


About the sea and the night

by disownedbytime



Category: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Blood and Violence, M/M, Pirates, Vampires, mob characters - Freeform, vampire shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:33:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28002453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disownedbytime/pseuds/disownedbytime
Summary: The legend tells about a pirate ship that has sailed the sea for over 500 years. A crew of savage undead beast men travel alongside a beautiful and mysterious witch.
Relationships: Epel Felmier/Jack Howl, Leona Kingscholar/Vil Schoenheit, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Rook Hunt/Ruggie Bucchi
Comments: 15
Kudos: 75





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Updates may not come fast as I have another ongoing multi chapter fic.
> 
> English is not my first language so I'll appreciate any correction! (no pirate talk because I can barely speak English as it is!)
> 
> This is loosely based on the Halloween event, though took a lot of liberties with it. I based the lore on different media I’ve read, but also some things are my own addition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This may be a bit slow at first, sorry!

“By signing you agree to everything Ruggie told you. No take backs unless you wanna return to the ocean.”

Leona Kingscholar, captain of the Savanaclaw, spoke to the three new recruits.

“150 years. That’s your trial.”

The Savanaclaw, the pirate ship that is said has been sailing the sea for over 500 years. There were few sightings, for almost nobody lived to tell the story. If you were close enough to realize it’s them, then it was already too late.

A crew of undead beast men, led by a man who had been a prince once. They only step in land every ten years, and when they did, nothing was safe; they plundered everything on their path. In the waters it’s not different; they’re ruthless to anyone who dare cross them, it doesn’t matter if they’re pirates, sailors or simply fishermen. Nobody ever even saw the bodies left. Rumors said they eat the prisoners alive.

Those stories are mostly true, but like always, people went crazy with fabrications. Not everybody died as soon as they laid their eyes on them. If they were brave enough to ask the captain for the honor to become part of the crew, he never rejected them. He always let them know the specifics of their situation, if they agreed then they were welcome abroad for a life sentence at the sea, if they didn’t, then it was a goodbye to them. Another fabrication was that they were all beast men. The majority was, but they never rejected people for not being of their kind. However as rumors had it to only be a ship of beasts, barely any human or otherwise dared to come close.

“Ruggie already explained everything, no need to do it again. Just hurry up.”

They were inside the captain’s quarters. The captain sat on his chair while another man sat on his lap. The new recruits all agreed that he was the most beautiful being they’d ever seen. Even though he was using the captain as a chair, he looked regal and proper, definitely standing out in the sea of pirates. He spoke with such a sweet voice that made the new recruits melt.

The captain rolled his eyes.

“Quiet. If you don’t want to sign right now you have three days to do it, that’s the rule. If you have any question ask Ruggie or anyone else who’s not me.”

The beautiful man didn’t seem to like being ignored, so, with a scowl in his face, he grabbed the captain by his neck and licked him.

He didn’t react to the touch. “Sign or leave. This is getting annoying.”

Two of the recruits agreed to sign right away, but the other one said he was going to wait. While the two signed their contracts, the beautiful person started to suck on the captain’s neck. Unlike moments ago, something seemed to turn on inside the captain because he quickly grabbed him and slammed his back on the table in front of him, crumpling the contracts the others had just signed. Then he began his attack by biting the man on their neck as well while he ripped open his clothes.

“Leona-san, really... ah it’s no use.” The man called Ruggie Bucchi –the right hand of the captain– tried to intervene with no avail. “You three come with me.”

Ruggie led them outside and to the upper deck.

“Leaving me all the workload while he plays around, I have responsibilities too.” Ruggie muttered to himself. “For now go with those guys and ask what you can do, I’ll come back to you once I finish my work.”

Ruggie left and the new recruits went with some guys who quickly gave them tasks. Even though rumors said the beasts were cruel and merciless, these people seemed normal and even almost friendly. They answered their questions as much as they could, told them about how they’ve gotten there and other stories. The new recruits began to feel at ease.

“What about the person who was with the captain? He seemed... out of place here.” One of the new recruits asked.

“Ah, you mean the madam? That’s the captain’s mate. You won’t see him around though, he sleeps all morning and then spends all evening and night fucking with the captain.” One of the crewmen explained. “He almost never leaves their cabin at all, so it’s a blessing if you happen to see him. Many always try to get called by the captain just to look at him.”

“It’s a double edged sword if the captain calls you. One one hand, it’s always to yell at you, but the madam is always there, so even getting a glimpse of him makes it worth it. In any case, if you’re wondering why he’s here, we have no idea.” 

“He was already here when I came in, and that was 70 years ago. I’ve heard he’s been here for a century but I don’t think anybody knows for what reason.” 

“So did he make a contract with the captain too?” The recruit who originally inquired about them asked.

The other crewmen hesitated.

“I don’t think so, I think he’s a special case.”

“How so?”

“Our contracts all say we have to work here, do all the hard jobs and whatnot. If we refuse or if we slack off we’re done for. But like I said, he never does anything.”

“Maybe being the captain’s mistress is his job?”

“If he was a mere mistress then the captain wouldn’t bring him all those jewels and dresses! It’s obvious he’s his lover.”

“Then maybe he just made a special contract with him to keep him by his side.”

“That’s not how the captain’s curse work, you know?”

“How the hell would you know that? As if you know anything about it!”

“You know.” One of the other new recruits spoke, interrupting the fight that was about to break. “Back in my village there was this rumor about some pirates. The people who stablished the town were survivors from a pirate attack, so they always had things to say about them. One of the stories I heard was about a beautiful woman who traveled with pirates. They said she was a siren who used her voice to lure away all the sea monsters and anything that could harm the ship, and as a thanks she was granted immortality. Never thought it was true, I mean, aren’t sirens the opposite of that? They lure sailors to their death with those bewitching voices. But maybe...”

“So you’re saying the madam is a siren?”

“No, I don’t know. But the story always fascinated me, I always dreamt of meeting such abeautiful woman who isn’t scared of journeying with pirates. And like I said, I never thought she’d be a siren, but when I saw that person with the captain, I was reminded of the story.”

“You know, I can see that. He’s mysterious enough, hell we’re not even sure about his gender, we only have Ruggie’s words for that. I’m sure he uses magic to look as gorgeous as he is, like all witches do.”

“Witches? Do you have any of them here?” 

“Ah, that I don’t–”

“Stop wasting time, even with new people we still have lots to do.” Ruggie came back with a very tall and bulky man that resembled a wolf.

“Ah, Ruggie. Are there any witches here?”

Ruggie lifted an eyebrow. “Why the question?”

“These new guys were wondering.”

Ruggie scratched his neck and glanced at the man next to him. “We do, a couple of them. But don’t worry, they’re harmless, they haven’t done anything yet and I doubt they will.”

“Is the madam one?”

“Madam...? Ah, Vil-san? How did you get to that conclusion?” Ruggie scowled.

“We were just wondering about him.”

Ruggie sighed. “This always happen when new people come. Vil-san is Vil-san, he’s with the captain and that’s all you need to know. Leona-san will get mad if you keep talking about him. Now, like I said, we have things to do. Did you finish here?”

The men nodded.

“Jack-kun here will take you to the quarters.” He pointed towards the tall man. “But don’t get too comfortable, we have work to do. A ship is near.”

The pirates’ eyes gleamed.

“What an honor, you’ll get to see combat on your first day!”

“So you’re attacking a ship?”

“We.” Ruggie corrected him. “You’re in this too now, hope you’re ready. Since you just signed your contracts you’re not yet undead, so better be careful unless you want to make your first day your last.” He shrugged with a grin, then he turned to the third man. “Ah, not you. You’re staying. You’ll guard Vil-san.”

“Guard? Why?”

“Bastard, that’s the most important job!” The man who Ruggie referred as Jack spat angrily.

“Calm down, Jack-kun. Look, you aren’t part of us yet so we can’t have you die there. As for why guard him... We’re attacking another pirate ship, and sometimes they get into our ship too, Vil-san doesn’t meddle with our attacks so we have to guard him.” Ruggie explained.

“I get it, if they see him they’d probably kidnap him.”

“Ah, I doubt they’d get to that point, but if they try it’d turn too messy.”

“Because the captain would get mad?”

“I guess you can say that.” Ruggie shrugged. “In any case, hurry up. Take them to the quarters and then come back here, I’ll go check the details with Leona-san.”

Jack guided the three men to the lower deck where the shared quarters were. It was a small room that was too crowded with barely enough space for all of them. Then, they went back upstairs to meet with all the other people. From that spot another ship was already visible.

“The ship you see are pirates from the Far East, they’re strong and they got good weapons. They have a good eye for treasures too, so we’ll get great rewards, but their greed blind them and won’t put much of a fight, instead they’ll try to protect their storerooms. Kill them first, we’ll get the treasure when we’re done. But make sure to leave a few alive, we need prisoners.” Leona spoke to the crew. His voice was commanding, suitable for a captain, but lazy at the same time. It was obvious he had done this countless of times. “Get your weapons ready.”

After his speech, Leona and Ruggie walked towards the new recruits.

“You.” Leona spoke to the man who wasn’t part of the crew yet. “Make sure nobody touches Vil or else your life is on the line. And don’t you dare touch him either.”

Ruggie sent the two men with the crew and took the third man to the place he was going to guard. He didn’t have much time to explain, so he tried to be as brief as possible.

“Just stay in front of the room. We all make sure nobody jumps into the ship, but in case they do, they’ll come straight here, it’s the captain’s cabin after all. Don’t let anyone in.” Ruggie gave a sword and a gun to the man when they arrived. “He wasn’t kidding, you know? You better give your life protecting this door because if someone gets inside with Vil-san and you’re still alive, he’ll make sure you won’t be for too long.”

The man gulped. “He won’t try to come out, right? Even if he hears the commotion, I just have to make sure nobody gets inside.”

Ruggie shook his head. “He spent all day with Leona-san, so he’s probably tired. Don’t worry, we really make sure they don’t get this far. And in case we see them around, someone will come to help.”

Leaving the man behind, Ruggie went back to the upper deck. He inspected his weapons; he knew how to use them, he hadn’t had the opportunity to do it a lot of times but he wasn’t alien to them. He waited in silence. He was completely alone. He hadn’t signed yet. If he wanted, he could escape. Look for a boat, or even just jump into the sea, maybe he could even ask the other ship for help. But he didn’t do any of that. He wasn’t sure if it was because was terrified, or because he didn’t care, or maybe he wanted to see what this new life could bring.

Minutes passed and he could hear the commotion upstairs, he wanted to check it out, but he knew he couldn’t leave. The stories said the captain was a ruthless man. At first glance he didn’t look like it, but his aura was definitely intimidating. He didn’t want to see if it was true.

Some time later he heard loud voices coming towards him.

“This way! The princess is this way!”

He barely had time to react when three men came running towards him. Not wasting time he shoot one on his legs which was good enough to slow him down. He grabbed his sword ready to fight, but moments later Jack came running too. His unusual speed made him get to them in seconds. He didn’t have any weapons, instead he used his fists and claws to take down the man who had been shot already. Between his savage attacks and the man’s shooting, they killed the three men before they were even close to use their swords. Jack left as quickly as he came, leaving the man with the dead pirates. After making sure they were dead, he checked his belongings and took several items for himself.

The fight didn’t last long after that and soon he started to see the pirates return to the ship, most of them with treasures on hand. The captain and Ruggie came back not much later, both carrying a pile of clothes and a few boxes. They both looked disheveled but mostly unharmed.

When Leona saw the man, he gave him stuff he was carrying and commanded him to follow them. Then he ordered Ruggie to get rid of the corpses.

“Shouldn’t we take them to the brig?” Ruggie was barely visible with all the things he was carrying.

“They’re dead already, you know he hates that.” Leona spoke as he opened the door to his quarters so the three of them could get inside.

The madam –as the pirates called him– lied down in a couch. He was naked barring the robe that was loosely draped on top of him. As soon as he saw the three men he perked up.

“Did you bring me something nice?”

“Cover yourself, I’m not alone.” Leona said while he fixed the robe for him.

Vil rolled his eyes, but complied and made sure his skin wasn’t showing much. There were a lot of bite marks in the spots that were visible. “So?”

“It’s mostly unused fabric. Seems expensive though, they were smuggling it.” Leona sat down on the couch next to Vil and motioned the two other men to show Vil the objects they were carrying. “There are some good jewels too.”

Vil touched the fabrics with gleam in his eyes. “I can work with them. Leave them over there.” He kissed the captain’s blood stained cheek before asking with unnatural innocence. “And the prisoners?”

“Unfortunately not many, they were a bunch of suicidal bastards. The few we left alone killed themselves, we only got two alive.”

Vil scowled and hit Leona’s arm. “Why weren’t you careful? We’re running out of them.”

“My bad, my bad. I’ll look for another ship soon.” Leona moved Vil’s hands away from him.

“So you can kill them all again? Look, I told you, they have to be alive. I’m not going to–”

“Quiet. We never run out, don’t start with that shit now. I told you we’ll get more soon so shut up, when have I ever broken a promise to you?”

The not-yet-undead man was confused by the conversation but decided to remain quiet, his fate was still undecided after all.

Vil pursed his lips and went quiet for a few seconds before speaking again. “What about the ship? Is it good?”

The captain grunted. “The others are checking it but...” he sighed profusely.

“It doesn’t look good. It’s bigger than this one, but it’s decaying, they really didn’t take care of it at all.” Ruggie shrugged while he opened the boxes they’d brought.

Vil sat on Leona’s lap, straddling him. “It’s okay, we still have time, you’ll find a better one. Or you know the other alternative.”

“That’s too annoying.” Leona deadpanned. When Vil got close to his face he pushed him slightly away. “I have to check the loot. They had a lot of booze so there’ll be a party tonight.”

“I’ll rather eat first.” Vil’s eyes were dangerously clouded. “You’ll have time with them later.”

“You already ate, but Ruggie will bring you food if you want more.” Leona grinned knowing too well his remark was going to annoy him. He grasped onto the other’s waist anyway.

Just as he expected, Vil pouted. “It’s your fault you didn’t bring me enough, take responsibility.”   
  
  


“You really give me no choice then.”

Leona pushed Vil onto the couch and straddled him in place. Ruggie quickly left what he was doing and pushed the other guy outside the room.

“You get used to it.” Ruggie said as he closed the door. He looked at the corpses lying down in front of them and asked the man to help him get rid of the bodies, after all Vil hated seeing them.

The man was still confused by what he heard before but decided to just go with it and do as he was asked.

* * *

A few hours later, the crew gathered in the mess hall, eating and drinking what they’ve looted from the other ship. It was a merry party that night.

“You are lucky! Such a good fight on your first day. They were smugglers so we really got a good bounty tonight.” One of the old pirates told the new guys.

“And so easy to kill, the captain was right, they didn’t put on a fight.”

The man remembered the conversation from before. The beautiful man was angry that they killed the other pirates, but he couldn’t understand why if everybody else was happy about it.

“Sad because you missed all the fun? Should’ve signed that contract!”

The man grinned. “Hey I got my own share.”

“Oh I know, I saw you leaving the captain’s cabin, what were you doing there?”

“Helped him to bring clothes for the madam.” The man looked around warily. “A sight to see.”

“Blessed twice in the same day, you really are the luckiest one.” The old pirate lifted his beer as if cheering for the man. “So enjoyed what you saw?”

The man nodded. “He was naked but I could only watch for a few seconds. He’s really gorgeous. But I’d say a bit weird.”

“You get to see him naked and you’re worried he’s weird? I’d say you’re the weird one. But let’s humor you, what do you mean by that?”

“Those men who came after him called him a ‘princess’ but I’d say he’s more like...” he hesitated trying to find the word he was looking for, “like a succubus maybe.”

The men erupted in laughter.

“I’ve seen you got the same doubts about him than us. I don’t think anybody in this ship knows what he really is. I say he’s a witch.” The old pirate said.

“Same as the guys from this morning.”

“Yeah that’s the consensus around here. If he is one, I’m glad he’s on our side. But you know, I think he’d make a good succubus too. Not that I knew they could stay for a century with the same man.”

“But it’d make sense to be with an undead then. Succubus kill their preys after some time, but he can’t kill the captain.”

“Stop talking about the captain and Vil-san like that, who do you think you are?!”

The commanding voice came from Jack, the big wolf beast from before. The pirates all shut up.

“Jack, relax. You know it’s always like this when new people come, they’re always curious about him.” Another older pirate spoke.

Jack sat down next to the new guys. “Curiosity is expected, but spouting lies about Vil-san is unacceptable. He’s not a succubus.”

“So you know what he is?”

Jack shook his head. “Only the captain and Ruggie-san know. But Ruggie-san has said many times that he’s not a threat, so you should listen and shut up.”

The men nodded and resumed eating and drinking.

“You three did a good job. Especially you, you were a good guard.” Jack spoke later, calmer this time.

“Thank you, but I didn’t do much, you did all the work.” The man said.

He shook his head. “Your quick thinking helped me get there in time, it was easier because you knew how to handle the gun. You have my thanks.”

“Still, you didn’t even have a gun, just your fists. It was impressive.”

“I’m close to finish my 150 years so my abilities are better than most, that’s all.” Jack seemed embarrassed but tried to hide it.

“Don’t be modest, Jack. You’ve been excellent since the day you came here, back then you were already better than any of us who’ve finished our trial.”

“You sure you’re not a witch yourself?” Another pirate jokingly asked.

Jack growled, saying it was not time for those sort of jokes. 

“What does witches have to do with it?” Someone else asked after Jack calmed down.

“Youngsters really don’t know about the dangers in this world. You see, witches are not just those who make curses and poisons, they have other abilities. You know how you got to follow some rules to become what we are? For us was to sign the contract and spend 150 years working. I’ve heard skeletons have to drink poison and then dig themselves out of their graves. Werewolves have to get bitten and then eat human flesh. You know how it is, we all have our thing we have to do to complete our transformations. But witches don’t have to go through all of that. For them it’s all easier because their special magic lets them simplify things.” The old pirate explained.

  
“What? What does a witch needs to become one of us?”   
  


The pirate thought for a few moments. “I guess they just need to sign the contract and that’s it, none of that waiting crap. They sign and they’re undead right then.”

“Why would a witch want to be one of us in the first place? They are already witches.”

“Man, you really don’t know much about witches don’t you? They’re human, even with all their superior magic and knowledge, their time is limited. Some are okay with that, but the majority look for a way to extend their lives. To keep learning, to keep cursing people, I don’t even know, but it’s known most are greedy and want more. So becoming undead, or skeletons, or any of those who live for longer is like a rite for them. I’ve met a few of them in my life, scary as hell, but, oh, how curious they were.”

“The curse on the captain was placed by a witch, right?”

“Indeed, though only him know the details of that.”

“So if the madam is a witch, do you think he placed the curse on him?”

“Hey! I said to stop speaking about him!” Jack intervened.

The man shrugged. “But Ruggie-san said there are some witches within us, aren’t you curious?”

Jack grunted. “He says they’re not a problem for us, so we shouldn’t worry about them. Even if Vil-san is one you should stop talking about him, the captain won’t like that at all.”

“He seems quite the jealous guy.”

“Some decades ago some new guy tried to make a pass on the madam. That didn’t end up well. Even for us who didn’t do anything, it was such a hellish week, do you all remember?”

The other pirates agreed and decided to drop the topic, they were curious but they didn’t want to anger the captain, specially at such a merry moment like then. Unknown to them, their doubts and queries were soon to be answered. 


	2. Chapter 2

The following day was a very slow and boring. They sailed without issues, no ships or cities close, only the vast sea. The captain didn’t even came outside all day. Ruggie explained it was like that always after a big haul, but as others explained too, more often than not he preferred the company of his lover alone.

During the morning of the second day after the new recruits arrived they were called into the captain’s office.

Leona and Ruggie were looking at the map and other papers on the table while they waited for them to come. Vil was sitting on Leona’s lap as he usually did.

“You really think it’s true? That the Island of Lamentation has enough materials? They sure have good gems and other treasures, but things like wood...? Their forests are all synthetic.” Ruggie spoke.

“How should I know? But they’ve always been good with new technology, even if they don’t have the materials I’m sure there should be something we could use.” Leona said.

The ship they attacked days before was heading to the Island of Lamentation. Apparently the place had items those pirates wanted, and they found out through notes in the ship that the island was stacked with treasures and materials that could be used to build a good ship.

“Like a whole ship? Would you be okay with one of their... strange ships? They’re all new and not at all like this one.” Vil said. “If the materials are good then that should be okay, if it’s possible to make it in ten days.”

“I’ll rather have the ship ready instead of making a new one, even if it’s a strange one. The Island of Lamentation is far from here, even if we speed up we wouldn’t arrive before the tenday start, we’d have only around a week to get it done.” Leona explained.

“Leona-san, you know seven days is enough for us, right? Especially if you help this time around.” 

“I don’t want to spend the whole week working, it should be ten free days for us.” Leona rested his head back on the chair.

“But it’s a good opportunity, is it not? We’ve been looking for new boats for years and none have been good enough for you.” Vil looked at the map. “The Country of Pyroxene is not too far away on the way there too.”

Leona sighed but remained quiet.

“It’s been a while since I saw Epel, maybe I could make a stop there...”

“Vil, not now. It’ll take weeks, we won’t waste our time in that place just because you want to see him.” Leona spoke without looking at him.

The door to the cabin opened and Jack and the new people came inside, however only Ruggie noticed them. They walked inside and stayed on one side, quietly looking at the argument that started to unfold in front of them.

“It’s on the way, you can leave me there and I’ll catch up with you on the island, I’ll just stay a few days.” Vil looked straight at him, with anger starting to flow inside him.

“No way I’m leaving you there alone. It’s too dangerous.”

“It’s not dangerous! You know the place.”

“You know what I mean by dangerous.”

“Send someone to accompany me. Jack would do.”

“Are you crazy? Who do you think I am?”

“It’s not fair. You can’t order me around.”

“I can, now shut up. We’re not going.”

“Ten years ago you said we could go, but it wasn’t possible and I understood. Now you’re telling me again I can’t go? Screw you, I’ll go by myself.”

“No, you won’t. It’s only ten years, you’ll go next time. We need that ship.”

“And in ten years you’ll tell me again that I can’t go?”

“If you keep annoying me then you won’t go ever again.”

“It’s been over a century.” Vil moved slightly away from him to see him better. “I know you don’t care, but you understand I left them for you, right? I left Epel when he was still so green and new just to come with you. Why can’t I at least visit them?”

“You made your choice. You chose me over them.”

“But–”

“Why do you need to go? Didn’t you say Rook was such a great man? He’ll take care of the kid.”

“He’s my responsibility! And it’s your fault too. I told you I’d go with you if I could come back to him. But in all these years you haven’t let me go back!”

“If you left when I first asked then we wouldn’t have this problem, would we? But you didn’t, so take those 20 years and add them now. You’ll see them next time if you behave.”

“I won’t wait just because you’re too stubborn. I will go on my own.”

“Be my guest then. Do you want me to get you a boat?”

Vil closed his lips shut. He stood up from Leona’s lap and positioned himself in front of him, looking down at him with a cold and emotionless stare.

“Is your goddamn boat more important than me?”

Leona held his gaze but remained silent. Vil didn’t need words to understand.

“Alright captain, as his majesty wishes.” With an icier gaze than before, Vil walked away towards the entrance, picking up an umbrella on his way out.

“Vil.” Leona stood up and walked after him. Without looking back, Vil opened the door with such force that it detached from the hinges. “Vil!”

Everybody watched in shock as Vil went outside with Leona following behind. They were in the upper deck when Leona finally caught up with him. Several people gathered to watch, including Ruggie who had gone after them.

“Vil. Stop this foolishness and come back.” Leona grabbed his arm, but Vil quickly wriggled out of his grip.

“No. I made my choice and you made yours.”

“Go back to the room this instant, or else–”

Before Leona could finish his sentence Vil slapped him hard. It made Leona shake slightly. There was an unanimous gasp within the crew.

“I told you to stop ordering me around. I don’t want to see you again.” His voice was emotionless. He turned around and walked away.

Leona didn’t follow him this time, he stood in place for a few moments before growling and walking towards the opposite side. Ruggie had to send the people away so they wouldn’t be in his path.

The hyena then went back to the captain’s cabin where the others were waiting.

“You need to get out of here, if Leona-san gets back and see you all here you’ll suffer his rage.”

Jack understood the situation well, but explained the reason why they were there nonetheless.

Ruggie sighed. “Come back later when everything calms down– ah, though it make take weeks. Just help the others with their tasks. Jack, you explain things. And you– you need to sign before tomorrow but I’m not sure where he left the contracts. I’ll look for them later and I’ll call you, I have a lot of work. Now, get out of here.”

The men followed Jack outside.

“Things will be tense for a while, don’t talk them at all if you want to live. Don’t cross path with them or even look at them.” He explained.

“Does this happen often?” One of them asked.

Jack shook his head. “Not too often but often enough that we know what to do. It can last a few days or it can last weeks, but you’ll know when it’s over. For now just do as Ruggie-san said and help the others. And don’t speak about what happened there, rumors will only make the captain angrier.”

The man nodded and were about to leave when Jack stopped them.

“One last thing, I’m sure Ruggie-san already explained but I’ll remind you. No leaving the quarters after midnight, yesterday it was an exception because we had a party but from now on, stay inside. Captain’s orders, so you have to follow them in order to keep with the contract. Especially right now that the captain is so angry.”

Jack was right. The whole day there was a tense atmosphere in the ship. Everybody did their jobs quietly and steadily. Even during lunchtime most people ate in silence, not even bothering to ask what had happened. Most of them knew it was better not to, the wrath of the captain was not something they saw often in its pure state, but when they did, it was better to stay away. Fortunately the captain didn’t leave his quarters all day, and who knows where his lover went. The new recruits wondered if he had left in a boat as he had said, but soon realized all the boats were still there. The atmosphere was extremely uncomfortable overall.

Ruggie didn’t call the new guy about the contract, so he began to get worried. He still had until the next morning, but what if he couldn’t sign because of the captain’s selfishness? He should’ve signed since the start, it’s not like he had other option. If he refused then he’d be stranded at the sea.

He decided to be patient, but when it was nighttime he couldn’t wait anymore. He decided to look for Ruggie after everybody was asleep. He remembered Jack’s words about not leaving the quarters, but since he wasn’t part of the crew yet, those rules didn’t affect him. Besides he was just going to look for Ruggie and come back, shouldn’t take too long.

The boat was completely deserted. Surprisingly, the crew seemed to follow the rules. He walked in silence through the hallways, trying to remember which way was Ruggie’s room. He heard a weird noise, it was far away but the more he walked towards the aft of the ship, the louder it got. It sounded wet, as if fish were jumping into the boat. He decided to check it out in case there was some issue, but as he approached he heard heavy breathing too. He stopped and decided to watch from afar. If it was the captain he’d be in danger.

He hid on the stairs that lead to the aft, looking through the planks as he tried to discern what was happening.

The captain’s mate, lover, the madam, Vil-san –however they called him– was being attacked by some kind of sea monster. It looked like a long snake but it was bigger than any snake he’d ever seen, probably double the size of the man it attacked. It was coiled all over his body. It’s face, which was centimetres away from Vil’s, was trying to bite him. He couldn’t seem to be able to move his arms nor his legs much. The man knew he had to help, but he couldn’t move either. He was frozen in place, watching in horror as the man dealt with the monster. He noticed there were several more of those monsters all over the floor, most likely all dead. He felt weak. This was probably the reason why they had to stay inside. Vil didn’t stay with the captain the whole day, so he probably was outside when they appeared. Suddenly one of the ‘dead’ snakes woke up and jumped out towards Vil. The man tried to speak out, but found himself unable to do it too. Fearing the worst he covered his eyes, but in some kind of miracle, Vil moved extremely fast and dodged the attack. Instead the snake attacked the one that was attached to him, giving Vil enough space to grab it and... bite into it. 

The man was speechless, not only he thought Vil was done for a few seconds ago, but he couldn’t believe the grotesque scene. The beautiful man ripped apart the monster with his teeth in such a gruesome way that he felt even more scared than before.

When the monster was unequivocally dead, Vil stopped and threw him on the floor. That was when the man finally noticed how badly injured Vil was. His clothes were partially torn, and he was bleeding from many cuts in his chest and arms. He finally felt his legs move, but before he could leave his hiding spot, someone else came to the rescue.

“Vil-san, are you okay?” Ruggie, the man he was originally looking for, came running towards him. Vil barely looked at him.

“An ambush, but they’re all dead now, don’t worry.” His gaze was set on the dark horizon. “Two escaped but they were babies, I don’t think they’ll bring others. Ah– you can try sense them, I don’t feel anything else near, but you should do it better.”

Ruggie closed his eyes. “Yeah, two babies. They’re running in circles, probably will be dead soon. Nothing else is near, you’re right.” He opened his eyes and frowned. “You’re hurt, I’ll take you to the brig so you can eat.”

Vil stepped away, staggering slightly. “It’s fine, I already ate today and this isn’t too bad, I won’t need a full one. Besides we are running low on food, I can’t waste one on something like this.”

“I know you know yourself better than me, but from what I can see it’s not good, you can’t stay like that. Leona-san will–”

Vil groaned loudly. “Don’t mention that man now, I don’t want to talk about him.” A painful look adorned his face. After a few seconds, he sighed and spoke again. “But you’re right, I need– ah, damn, I guess I do need him.”

Ruggie held out an old rag for Vil to clean himself.

He accepted the rag and wiped away some dirt and blood from his face. “I’ll just go with him. That should be enough.” He hesitated. “I– I really don’t want to see him, I hate having to need him, but I have no choice. He was right, I need him more than he needs me.”

“I’m not sure about that, you do a lot for us and I’m sure we’d have way more work without you here. He knows that.” Ruggie smiled sympathetically.

“What he said was true, the ship is more important. It’s just that– I really need to see them. For over a decade, I’ve been feeling some kind of longing to see Epel.” He set his eyes on the horizon once again and outstretched his hand as if he was trying to reach something. “It’s not a bad omen but an extreme need to go, as if I was being called.”

“It’s really been a while. You must miss them.”

“I’m sure Rook would love to see you.” Vil showed a faint smile.

Ruggie scratched his head while he looked away. “Yeah, I know. I could try talking to Leona-san but...”

“He already traced the route, didn’t he? He’s so stubborn, even if I give him alternatives he won’t listen.”

“He said he’d rather get a ship ready, finding one should be easy there. But even if we have to build it, it shouldn’t take too long, even without him helping, it doesn’t take us a week. The hardest part would be finding the materials, but we can find a way to check if there’s enough before we arrive. I’m sure we could stop at the Country of Pyroxene for a day or two and still have time to get the boat.”

“Why can’t he listen to you, at least?”

“Maybe if you can calm him down tonight I could tell him tomorrow. Just don’t anger him more.”

“You say it as if it’s so easy. I’ll try, but... I guess I overdid it this morning, so I don’t know. He must not want to see me.” Vil sighed and handed Ruggie the cloth back. “I really should go now, even if these wounds aren’t bad they keep bleeding. And ah– can you clean over here? I tried but–”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.” Ruggie helped Vil walk towards the stairs to go to the captain’s cabin. Fortunately they weren’t the same as where the not-yet-undead man was hiding.

When Vil was out of sight, Ruggie spoke again.

“You know, you’re lucky he was too tired to notice you. You’d be dead otherwise.”

The man stammered and walked up to where Ruggie was. “I’m– I’m sorry, I wasn’t– I just–”

“Calm down, he’s gone. I’ll decide what’ll happen to you now. What are you doing here? Didn’t Jack-kun tell you to stay inside all night?” Ruggie spoke calmly, but the man couldn’t relax at all.

“He told us but... since he said it was part of the contract I thought it’d be okay– I only– I wanted to sign up since this morning, but–”

“Ah, shit, I forgot about that. But you still have until tomorrow morning, why couldn’t you wait?” Ruggie crossed his arms, barely buying the story.

“I wasn’t sure if I could just waltz into the captain’s cabin tomorrow, everybody told me to stay away from him when he’s angry. I thought looking for you would be a better idea.”

“Nah, you’re right.” He paused. “Even after what you saw, you still want to be part of us?”

The man nodded. He didn’t have an option anyway.

Ruggie looked at him from head to toe. “The captain must be busy with Vil-san already tonight, so I’ll make sure you can do it in the morning. Go over there after breakfast. And another thing– I know you have a lot of questions about what you saw, I’ll try to give you an answer but you can’t tell anybody anything at all. You can’t even tell you were awake tonight. Your silence will be part of your contract tomorrow but for tonight I expect you to do as I say. Is that okay?” The man nodded. “Alright, ask away.”

Quickly the man asked. “What was... all of that?”

Ruggie snickered at the question. Then he paused to think. “What you saw was Vil-san’s job. You were all asking yesterday what he did here, so there’s your answer. He takes care of the sea monsters that attack the ship.”

“Sea monsters? Do they attack only at night? Why only he...?”

“Ah, okay, let’s go in order. I’m sure you know about sea monsters, everybody has stories about them. The sea is filled with them, more than anyone can imagine. But they’re not dumb, they know the dangers humans and other creatures possess, so they stay away and rarely attack ships unless they are hungry or need something. They’re monsters but aren’t really different from other sea creatures. But, you know about the curse the witch placed on the captain, right? The reason why we are all here?”

The man nodded.

“ _‘You’ll be fated to roam the seas amidst hungry monsters and greedy humans for an eternity, your companions only those that agree to stay for a century and a half, only being able to return to land every decade for a tenday.’_ Or something like that, I probably butchered it but you get the idea. Monsters and pirates attack us more often than others because of the curse, as soon as they see our ship the have an urge to fight us. Vil-san help us with the monsters. He placed a spell on the ship to drive off monsters; but he has to recast it every night. So at midnight when he’s recasting, some monsters take the opportunity to attack. It doesn’t happen every night, and he can deal with them with no problems, ah– even though tonight was unusual. Anyway, he’s here to deal with them and keep our boat safe.”

“Why him? Why doesn’t anyone help him? Tonight he was–”

“You ask too many questions.” Ruggie scowled. “He made a deal with the captain. He’ll take care of monsters but he won’t deal with humans, that’s why he’s always locked away during attacks. Don’t worry about anything else, that’s just the deal those two made.”

“I don’t get it, what is he gaining from this? Only the captain seems to be benefiting from it.”

“You don’t have to understand it, that’s just how it is. They decided on it and that’s how it’s been for a century. Now I expect you to keep quiet, Vil-san doesn’t want others to know what he does.”

The man nodded. “My lips are shut. I just have one last question. Is he really a witch?”

Ruggie snickered again and asked to help him clean the mess, as a punishment for not following orders.

Without answering and without any more questions from the man, they put themselves to work.


	3. Chapter 3

Vil hesitated before opening the door, he understood his safety was more important than his pride, but it was difficult.

When he went inside he found Leona on the bed awake, after all he couldn’t even do something like sleep anymore. The captain definitely noticed Vil entering the room, but he didn’t move. Vil’s heart sank at the thought of being ignored but he knew Leona’s pride was higher than his own. He walked towards the man and knelt down next to him.

“Leona, I need–” The lion sat up when he heard him. Vil looked away before continuing. “I need your blood.”

“What happened? Why are you hurt?” Much to Vil’s surprise, he sounded concerned.

“Monsters. They prepared an ambush. I killed them all so you don’t have to worry.”

Leona grabbed Vil and made him sit on the bed, then he knelt down in front of him. “I’ve told you to take Ruggie with you.”

Vil still refused to met his eyes. “I told you I’m fine. I don’t want others seeing me in that state, even if it’s Ruggie. I can handle it myself.”

“Then I’ll go with you next time.”

“No. Just let me drink your blood, I think I’m going to faint.”

“Why didn’t you go to the brig?”

“Because there aren’t enough prisoners down there, I don’t want to waste them.”

“I told you I was getting you more soon, why are you so stubborn?”

“You say a lot of things and then take them back, don’t you?” Vil spatted. He felt the rage from before coming back, but when he remembered Ruggie’s plea to not make Leona mad again he closed his mouth. “Just let me drink. It will be quick.”

Leona pursed his lips. “I’ll rather have you drink from one of those guys.”

“I see, you really don’t want me anymore.” Vil looked down, ready to stand up and leave.

“Shut up. You’re injured, I don’t want to hurt you more, and that’ll happen if you drink from me.” Leona grabbed Vil’s chin and made him look at him. “Look at me when I speak.”

A beastman blood was an aphrodisiac for Vil’s kind. When they drank human’s blood, they only fed, they didn’t feel anything else; but the blood of beasts had a different effect on them, it aroused them instantly, making them unable to do anything but lose themselves to their pleasure.

Vil looked at his mouth, not wanting to meet his eyes. “It isn’t that bad, as soon as I drink it, I’ll start to heal, so please... I need you.”

At the same time, his kind inject those who they choose to bite with an euphoric sedative that makes the initial pain transform into pleasure. A human who gets bitten by them die without feeling pain, basking in the last bliss of their life. However for a beast who can’t die, the pleasure remains and overwhelm them, not too different from the vampire who just bit them.   
  


It was a somewhat difficult and unexpected deal for everybody involved, but normally vampires and undead beasts weren’t meant to be together. Their case was a peculiar one after all. 

Leona gave a deep breath. He unbuttoned his shirt to reveal his neck and presented it to his lover. “Try to contain yourself this time.”

Vil didn’t waste time and sank his fangs into his neck, slowly sucking the vital liquid that he craved so much. The more he drank, the more aroused he became, it was always the same. With difficulty, Leona fought back the impulse to ravish him right there.

When he finished, Leona pushed him back into the bed. Vil tried to pull him towards him, but he stopped him.

“I told you to contain yourself. Heal first.”

Vil closed his eyes, trying to do as he was told. He felt his body getting hotter –he needed him– but also felt how his wounds started to close little by little.

“Vil.” Vil nodded when he heard his name called but didn’t look at him. “You’re not less important than the ship, you know that.”

Vil slowly opened his eyes.

“You matter more than the ship, and that’s the reason why I need to find one soon. You understand, right? The Savanaclaw is dying, it’s already breaking and rotting, and even if it gets repaired daily it won’t last much more. If it starts to sink we won’t die, it’d be difficult but we’d find a way. But it’s dangerous for you, you can’t stay in the water at all. I’m not going to lose you and I’m not taking any risks, so we need to get a ship as soon as possible.” Leona looked at him as he spoke. His expression was serious but he didn’t look angry like he was before.

Vil sighed. “I know. I knew it since this morning. I was just disappointed, I thought I could finally see them.”

“Do you still hear the calling?”

Vil nodded. “Not as much as before, but I do. I don’t think it’s anything bad, but I’m still worried.”

Leona sat on the bed and started to remove the torn clothes from Vil’s body. “I don’t want to leave you there alone and I don’t want you to go alone all the way to the Island of Lamentation. I know you can take care of yourself, but it’s still dangerous.”

“Are you afraid I’ll leave you for someone else?” A wry smile adorned his lips.

“If you do that I’ll just have to snatch you again, you won’t leave me too easily.” Leona grabbed his face and licked his cheek. “I’ll try to speed things up, maybe we can arrive sooner, and if I get Ruggie to send a scout before we arrive, it could be faster. So if there’s enough time I’ll bring you there, but I can’t promise it’ll happen.”

Vil smiled sweetly. Ruggie said there should be enough time, so now that Leona agreed, it shouldn’t be a problem anymore. “Thank you, darling. Is it okay now? I’m almost all healed.” He laced his hands behind Leona’s head.

“Are you really okay? I don’t want you fainting on me, that’ll be annoying. We can wait.”

“Why are you better at containing yourself than me? You should’ve be feeling the same arousal as me, yet...”

“It’s not like I’m having the best time holding on here. I want to fuck you already, I missed you the whole day, but I don’t want to hurt you again.” Leona caressed Vil’s cheek.

Vil sighed happily. “I’m really fine now, you really think I’m that weak?”

“Of course not. My cheek still hurts from this morning, I know you can take care of yourself.” Leona placed a quick kiss on his lips. “I won’t let you rest until tomorrow, understand?”

Vil nodded enthusiastically.

* * *

After breakfast, Ruggie walked to Leona’s cabin as usual, but before he went inside he saw the three new faces standing outside.Before anyone could speak, he heard a melody coming from inside the room. It was Vil’s singing voice, which was as enticing and charming just like he was.

“Is– Is that a siren song? Is he gonna kill us?” 

Ruggie raised an eyebrow but moments later laughed. “If that was a siren you’d be dead already. That just means he’s in a good mood, fortunately.”

Ruggie cautiously opened the door. Inside, Vil stood in front of the captain’s desk, cutting up some of the fabric they brought days before. Leona wasn’t in sight.

“Vil-san? Can we come in? We need to speak with the captain.” Ruggie asked.

Vil looked at them and replied cheerfully. “Of course, you don’t need permission.”After the four men walked inside, he spoke again. “Leona is sleeping in the bedroom, let me call him.” Vil walked to one corner of the room where a curtain separated their ‘bedroom’ from the office. 

He was completely different from the previous day. He looked content, his words were sweet and nice, none of the anger from before seemed to be present. And more importantly, he wasn’t injured at all.

“Leona, I know you’re awake. And I know you heard Ruggie. Come out, they need you.” Vil opened the curtains revealing the captain lying on the bed.

Without any more ado, Leona stood up and went with them. His clothes and hair were a mess, but only Ruggie laughed at his sight.

“Why are you annoying me so early in the morning?” Even though he seemed to be in a bad mood it was far from how he was the previous day.

“Don’t be rude. I’m tired too, but I’m working here anyway. They’re here to get orders, right?” Vil spoke as he walked back to the desk to keep working.

“Yup, he’s here to sign up too, it’s the last day.” Ruggie explained.

Leona groaned and walked to his desk, finding it covered in fabric and threads. He stared at Vil without speaking. 

“I’m busy, I told you. This is my sewing table for now, so go over there.” Vil pointed to the small coffee table in front of the couch.

“I need the papers that were in the desk.”

“I put them in the bookshelf, where they should go.”

The domesticity was a surprise for the new guys, especially after yesterday’s fight, but it wasn’t anything new for Ruggie who had seen this scene many times in the last century. He was still a bit surprised, but glad, by how fast they made up this time.

Leona grabbed some papers from said bookshelf and went to sit on the couch. The other men followed him.

“Here’s the contract, I don’t think I have to say anything else, but if you still have questions ask Ruggie.” Leona presented a paper to the man.

“I hope this extra time gave you the reassurance to stay and enjoy our hell.” Ruggie snickered.

The man awkwardly nodded and bent down to sign the papers on the coffee table. “Not much of a choice, but I decided I still want to be part of this.”

“What do you mean? We’re going to land in like three weeks, we’d just drop you there then. Some guys had to wait years until we got close to a port safe enough for them to swim to. You were lucky.” Ruggie explained.

The three men looked at each other.

“But I– I thought–”

“What? That if you don’t accept you are fated to die? That Leona would throw you away and leave you to fend for yourself at the sea?” Vil amusedly spoke from the other side of the room.

Ruggie snickered. “Those stories are incredible. It takes courage to ask for a job and then regret it, of course we let them go. We’re not monsters, we free a lot of people.”

“They probably come from relatives of those who are here. They won’t accept they choose this life on their own and prefer the version where we killed them or where they’re held prisoners here. I doubt any of the people you free could make those stories up.”

“It’s annoying.” Leona groaned. “I’ll rather have people who want to be here than people who accepted in fear. It’s annoying having to deal with their cries for over a century. Next time, be sure to let them know that, Ruggie.”

“That’s your responsibility, Leona-san.”

”You kept saying I had to sign before the three days were up, so I thought–”

“You have no idea how many people kept postponing signing up, some waited years until they decided they didn’t want to be here. We had to set a deadline.” Ruggie said.

“I hate indecisive people, how hard can it be to choose? Even three days is too much.”

Rugged turned to the three men with a smile on his face. “Anyway, hope you still wanted to stay. You’ll have another chance in 150 years.”

“What do you mean? I thought in 150 years we’re bound here forever?”

Ruggie snickered again.

“No, you’re bound here for 150 years. After your contract is up you get to decide, stay and become part of the crew, or leave and go back to your previous life. You’d lose your undead status and become mortal again, but after 150 years it’s almost impossible to live your life like it was before.” Leona said. “Ruggie, you haven’t been explaining things to the recruits properly.”

“I just told you, that’s your responsibility. Besides, it’s not my fault those stories keep coming up, you never speak about the curse so people make up stuff all the time.”

“Whatever.” Leona slinked back into the couch. “You three will work on repairs, or wherever Ruggie says you’re needed, but repairs is the priority. Ruggie, put these away in the... bookshelf, I guess, and take them to their jobs. This already took too long.”

The hyena picked up the papers. “By the way Leona-san, I’ve been meaning to ask for some time, but why have you been doing this to your room? The remodeling, I mean. This table, the bookshelf, the curtains, those rugs, and those other fancy things. It looks way better and more importantly it looks clean, but it’s not like you.”

Leona growled, walking back towards the bed. “Don’t ask me, ask him. He’s trying to make this room his house.”

“Well, I’m sorry I’m trying to make our room presentable, especially since you always have people coming in.” Vil stopped cutting the fabric and turned to them. “Most of these things are mine, from back home, but I had them stored away. They look better here, don’t you think? It’s temporary anyway, they’ll look way better on the new ship.” He smiled and returned to his work. “And I still have a lot of other things we could use. Not just here, but in other areas of the ship, it will way better.”

“You say that as if our next room will be bigger. We’ll be lucky if we even find a non decaying ship.”

“It will be, and you’ll make sure of that. Our room will be the biggest. Last time you didn’t think through and we ended up with such a reduced space.”

”That’s because I gave you a room for yourself, but you never use it other than for storing your crap.”

“Get a bigger room and a storeroom and that won’t be necessary anymore. You’re not getting rid of me easily.”

“Oh no, you definitely need a separate room. Every time you get angry you need your own space for the sake of everybody.”   


“As if you aren’t the same.” Vil pouted. “Fine, get a smaller room for when we argue and a big one for us. With enough space for our bed, my vanity, my wardrobe, your desk, a bigger bookshelf, a table for tea time, a desk for me to work on...”

“Anything else, your majesty?”

“I’ll think about it.” Vil smiled.

Their start hadn’t been the best, but after many years of them being together, this exchange was common for them. They argued and fought and got angry, but they also loved one another a lot. Even centuries later, they hadn’t changed much.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Same thing as the other one, sorry for the delay :') I was sick all past week.

The following week went as peacefully as one could expect at the sea; they had a few confrontations with other pirates and they ransacked a few smaller ships, finding a lot more treasures, but just a few prisoners and no new ship at all. Vil noticed the sea creatures he fought every night had increased, but since Ruggie –by Leona’s orders– now accompanied him in his tasks, he wasn’t too worried.

Days passed and as they got closer to their destination, attacks increased considerably, both from sea monsters and from other pirates. It wasn’t weird that around this time the attacks increased, after all they were going to be free for several days, but it was no mistake that lately it had been worse. They could manage, of course, but they were wasting a lot time. It even seemed as if they wanted to prevent them from going to land in time.

During certain morning when the tenday was short of a week from starting, the crew noticed some strange things.Hundreds of small and not-so-small critters gathered around the ship, following slowly their trajectory. They weren’t sure what to do since they weren’t attacking the ship, but it was disconcerting to see so many. As the hours passed, bigger specimens arrived too. The captain told them to continue sailing, but to keep watch in case they tried something. Thanks to Vil’s magic they couldn’t attack the ship, but he was still wary of their intentions.

By the afternoon they couldn’t even see the surrounding waters anymore, thousands of creatures –big and small– adorned the sea and made it difficult for them to continue. As some pirates discussed with the captain what to do next, a loud noise echoed and the whole ship trembled.

It didn’t take long to see what had happened: two different, small pirate ships attacked from different sides, they’d blended with the sea monsters and hid amongst them while they waited for an opening. Soon enough many pirates began to flow into the Savanaclaw. Leona gave orders to the crew to begin the attack and defend the ship while locking Vil away in their cabin.

The battle was vicious, different from any other battle they had before. It was no mistake these pirates came from the Island of Lamentation by the technology they were using to attack. Only around a third of those pirates seemed human, with another third being some kind of robots, and the last third being a type of _undead_. The undead from the Island of Lamentation were known as ‘shut ins’, meaning they were a mystery for most of the world, and therefore nobody was sure about their exact habits or skills, yet by the looks of them it was obvious they weren’t the same as Leona’s kind. Some people theorized they were akin to gods, but none could tell for sure.

A battle of undead beastmen versus robots and undead creatures was almost pointless; no matter what they did, it wasn’t taking anyone to anywhere. Leona figured it was a distraction, but he couldn’t place what they were after. He was looking for a way to pull through this as fast as possible when Ruggie came running to him.

“Leona-san, the monsters are getting inside.” Ruggie explained trying to catch his breath. “They’re crawling inside, we’re trying to push them away but they’re too many.”

“That’s impossible, Vil’s spell should stop them. Where is him?”

“That's the thing, they’re not attacking us, just getting in. Vil-san is fine, just checked on him. I think they found a way to fool his magic, but if we–”

“Guard Vil.” 

“Shouldn’t we ask him for help?” Ruggie said tilting his head. “If he takes care of the monsters, we can deal with the pirates faster.”

Leona growled. “No. Don’t let anyone get near him, you hear?”

“But Leona-san, we won’t be able to deal with the pirates if they–”

“I said no. It’s obvious they’re trying to bait him out. I thought it was unrelated, but I was mistaken. Those damn bastards were working with the monsters since the start. They want something from him.”

“But–”

“We need to throw them off the boat, no matter what. The monsters know what he is, so they may try to sink the ship if they can't get to him soon. Get rid of them and guard Vil. I’ll think of something.” Leona commanded and left Ruggie alone.

Unfortunately Leona didn’t have time to think of a plan when he was notified that their cabin was wide open with no sight of Vil inside. Not wasting any more time, he ran to find him before it was too late.

* * *

As soon as they were notified of a pirate attack, Vil was locked inside the captain’s cabin like every time it happened. He never complained, he knew how things were and he had no intentions of meddling with foreign pirates. They’d all become his meal in the end anyway. Most of the times he didn’t interfere with battles because, as good as a fighter as he was, being too close to water was never a good idea for him; but he also didn’t like to deal with other pirates because they always tried to steal him away, as if he was part of the bounty. It was gross, he had to admit. The Savanaclaw pirates knew he was out of reach for them, so even if they stared or desired him, nobody tried anything. But those other pirates... they always saw him as the most treasured prize, after all, why’d he be locked away if he wasn’t? Rumours spread fast so now every pirate ship that attacked them tried to kidnap him. It was all for naught obviously, not only their pirates always defended him, but if they were to fail, he could defend himself.

The truth was that he actually had a dear, prized possession. Nobody but him and Leona knew about it, and he’d die before someone else could get their hands on it; so to avoid people knowing about it and consequently trying to steal it from him, he’d decided to become the ‘ _treasure that nobody could posses_ ’. He spread the rumours of a beautiful siren, being held by savages, that would make their dreams come true if freed. He hated it, of course, but he’d rather be inconvenienced by pirates trying to kidnap him than letting someone get a hold of it.

But it seemed like these pirates had discovered his secret.

It was too late when he noticed monsters scurrying down the door, crawling towards him; and when he did, pirates where already on the door. He knew the routine: he’d act scared and in distress, he’d call for help, somebody would arrive in seconds, normally Jack –the boy was like his personal bodyguard– and they’d defend him. In the extreme case that they didn’t, then he’d have to do the job himself, which wasn’t difficult since the pirates never saw him as a treat. Rookie mistake.He was ready to start his plan, but when they came inside and saw him, they... ignored him.

He was dumbfounded. They went straight to make a mess, tossing all the stuff, searching for something. Instantly he knew they weren’t there for him but for his treasure. He panicked, breaking out in cold sweat; nobody should know about it, not even Rook or Ruggie knew, so he couldn’t understand how they could know about it. It was safely put away, locked and hidden so nobody could find it, but he panicked and made a mistake. He turned his eyes towards the old chest in the corner of the room, and as if they were reading his mind, the pirates quickly made a run towards it.

Vil was fast, as all of his kind, but these pirates were faster. One grabbed the chest and another grabbed him, immobilizing him and preventing from trying to get the chest back. Vil was also strong, like all of his kind, but he still felt powerless against them. It was no mistake they were robots from the Island of Lamentation, the only place where such things could be possible.

Not being able to do much, he let himself be dragged outside the cabin by them. He didn’t want to, but he didn’t want to lose sight of the chest.

The afternoon sun still illuminated the sky.

He was weaker each passing minute, he had to find shade before it was too late, but the robots dragged him with such force that he was unable to fight back. He needed a chance to break free, but little by little he was losing his strength. He looked around searching for Leona, but he couldn’t see him anywhere. The battle was atrocious and intense, nobody was paying attention to anything besides the fight, so even though he tried to call for help, nobody came to his rescue.He didn’t have much time, he had to get the chest back and escape from the sun.

Just as he thought he’d seen Leona, he was forcefully thrown onto the floor. When he adjusted his sight to understand what had happened, he saw the robot who was dragging him around cut in half next to him. Then he saw Jack.

The man had always been stronger and more ferocious than any other crew member. Vil understood why. He had seen him fighting and defending him countless of times, but he still thought the current sight of him was terrifying. Jack had a strong sense of justice and had taken a likening to Vil, so he was always the first to defend and protect him, it was no surprise he’d been the first one to come to his rescue.

Vil shook his head; he didn’t have time to be grateful or worried for the boy, he had to get the chest.

With difficulty, he crawled towards the discarded chest, but just as he was about to grab it someone snatched it up from his hands. He looked up to see a human who sneered and kicked him, preventing him from getting closer. The man aimed his gun at the chest which made Vil react and jump between them, shielding it with his body. The bullet grazed one side of his face but didn’t seem to harm the chest. When Jack saw Vil getting hurt, he quickly ran towards the man and punched him, forcefully sending him flying out of the ship.

“Vil-san, I need to get you out of here now.” Jack grabbed the bloodstained Vil by his arm and dragged him away. "It's too dangerous."

Vil tried to wriggle out from his grip but between the sun weakening him and the strength of the wolf, it was impossible. “Jack, wait.”

“There’s no time, you’re hurt. I’ll take you to the captain.”

“The chest, I need the che–”

The colour drained out of his face as he saw another pirate grab the chest, open it and look through its contents. He threw away the jewels and accessories, and finally grabbed the small, golden box from inside.

Vil saw red and felt his blood boiling. He stopped listening to Jack and the battle around them and even stopped feeling the weight of the sun on him; he could only focus on the man, manhandling his precious treasure box.

Suddenly he wasn’t next to Jack anymore, he was in front of the man, one hand pulling him by his hair and his fangs stuck in his neck. He sucked his blood and pulled his head back until his neck snapped. Then he snatched the box back and held it to his chest protectively.

Neither Jack nor the other Savanaclaw pirates around could believe what they had seen, but it seemed like the Island of Lamentation pirates and the sea monsters knew what was going on because at the next moment, they all charged at Vil.

The Savanaclaw crew quickly got to work, defending Vil and trying to get him to safety, but it was clear they were unneeded. Without letting go of the box, Vil fought against the hoards of pirates; he didn’t discriminate: he bit off the sea monsters, he sunk his fangs in the necks of the humans, he snapped the necks of the undead and then dismembered them, he smashed the robots against each other, successfully breaking them.

The more he fought and the more blood he sucked, the stronger he felt, hence the more he could fight.

Little by little the number of enemies decreased, many dead or unable to move and some returning to their boats. However Vil didn’t stop his attack, his mind only cared about protecting the box and himself.

* * *

“Vil, stop.” Leona’s low voice echoed in his ears.

Vil stopped his attack when he heard Leona’s voice. His sight started to clear up, he realized he was on the top part of the ship, surrounded by dead and undead bodies and robot parts, all scattered around.The battle was over, one of the pirate ships had sailed away while the other was in the process of doing it too. Leona stood in front of him, holding him by his arms.

“Leona?” Vil was still out of it, trying to process what had happened.

“Are you insane? What the hell were you thinking?” Leona draped his coat over Vil’s head, finally hiding him from the unforgiving sun.

Feeling the rough fabric on his skin, smelling the aroma of his lover and listening to his voice made him finally return to his senses. He quickly looked for the box which he still clutched dearly to his chest. He noticed his clothes were ripped and that was bleeding slightly from several parts of his body. Only then, he noticed the Savanaclaw crew around them –with the exception of Ruggie– they all looked scared and surprised; he never wanted to show anyone this side of him like this, so he was hurt by the reaction.

“This! They were after this, I had to– I couldn’t let them take it away.” He showed the small box to Leona.

“Stupid! Did you see the danger you were in?” Leona yelled at him, making everyone else but Vil take a step back.

“I won’t let them take this away, I’ll rather let them have me than lose this and you know it.”

“Stop saying such stupid things!” Leona yanked his arm. “That thing is useless if you’re not safe, your life is our priority.”

Vil swatted his hand away. “I’m not going to let someone else have–”

Suddenly out of nowhere one of the ‘dead pirates’ came to life and went straight for Vil. Leona reacted quickly and pushed him away, but in the process the box fell from Vil’s hands. When it fell on the ground, it opened, spilling the contents out. Leona alongside the crew dropped to their knees as they felt a sharp pain in their chest.

Without hesitation, Vil grabbed the foreign pirate and bit his neck, but when he sucked on his blood he noticed something.

“You’re undead.”

The pirate had made himself look human, but it was no mistake the blood Vil was drinking belonged to an undead man.

He laughed.“You think you won, but don’t be so conceited, we’ll get you and–”

Before he could finish speaking, Vil tore the man’s head off.

“Maybe you won’t die, but you won’t be able to regenerate either.”

With the same ferocity as before, he tore all his limbs off, scattering them away with the other bodies around. Then he ran towards the box and, with utmost care, he grabbed the spilled content of the box.

A heart.

A beastman heart to be precise.

It beat quietly but steadily, albeit slower than a regular one. Vil muttered an incantation and sparkles began to flow from his hand to the heart, surrounding it in a white light; little by little the Savanaclaw pirates began to recover. Vil only stopped the magic when he noticed everybody was fine.

“You know you aren’t allowed to feed on other undead, right?” Leona walked up to him with the empty box in his hands.

Vil accepted the box and placed the heart inside. “I’m allowed to do anything I want if it means to protect what’s mine. You were in danger, so I had to act.”

Leona caressed Vil’s cheek softly, no trace of the previous injury there anymore.

Vil smirked. “Besides. Those undead are not like you. It didn’t taste good or made me feel as good as you. It felt like I was sucking on oil.”

“Good, because I’m not letting you do that ever again.”

Vil ran his hand through Leona’s neck. “I need to get that horrible taste of my mouth.”

Leona grabbed him by his waist and pulled him closer.He was about to start kissing him when he was interrupted. 

“Leona-san, sorry to interrupt.” Ruggie approached the couple and handed an umbrella to Vil. “But I think we are all due for an explanation."

Leona grunted annoyed, he hated when others interrupted his time with Vil. “What’s to explain? Those damn bastards from the Island of Lamentation were working with the Sea Witch to attack us.”

“You noticed too? This was definitely Azul’s work, no doubt about it. But for him to work with that man too... I wonder what they're planning.” Vil removed Leona’s coat from his head now that he had the umbrella to hide from the sun.

“Working together to get that thing you got there? It’s a heart, right?” Ruggie asked.

“That’s none of your business. Everybody go and clean this mess.” Leona grabbed Vil’s hand and started to walk away.

“Leona-san.” Ruggie stopped him. “Look, I don’t care much about this, I’ve been serving you for many years and I’ve always known you and Vil-san have your secrets, but whatever happened before affected us all, so we really need an explanation.” He had been Leona's right hand for many years, but he was also the one in charge of the crew, so he knew they wanted answers. He couldn't just pretend what had happened was something trivial.

Vil squeezed Leona’s hand and they both stared at each other. Vil had never wanted to reveal himself, he liked being in the shadows only to be seen by Leona; but he had known from the start that this day could come sometime. They'd spoken about it years ago, both didn't wish to bother with it, they preferred if it was never made known; it was their secret after all. But they knew that if it had to come to light, then they needed to be clear about it, no letting people wonder and making assumptions about them.

“...That heart must be important if Vil-san revealed himself, right? Can you tell us anything?”

Leona sighed and looked at the expecting crew. He had always thought he’d take his secret to his grave, but it was pointless now. “That’s my heart. Anyone who’s made a contract with me depends on the safety of that heart; while it continues to beat, we continue to live. It’s been beating for over 500 years with no issue, but if it were to stop, then that would be our end. I guess it means we’re not exactly immortal, after all.”

The pirates stared at him, trying to comprehend his words.

“Was that the curse of the witch?” Someone in the crowd asked.

Leona nodded. “The witch cursed me and took my heart, I was meant to roam the sea for centuries in search of it, but I made a contract with him to keep it myself. That contract is what we have now, I make subcontracts with you and we all are under his curse. His power grows with each contact, so it was beneficial for him.”

“Why were you cursed in the first place? Why did the witch took you heart?”

“That was long ago, it’s irrelevant now.” Leona grunted.

“So the reason why we get attacked so often is because of the curse? Or are they after your heart? Because these pirates were definitely after it.”

“Both. It’s part of the curse to not have an easy life, so we get attacked on sight.” Leona sighed. “But they are after the heart too. Only Vil knew about its existence, but the curse is not unknown to others. They know that by severing our connection to the witch he’d lose a big portion of his powers, so they come to try to take away that connection. They don't know it's my actual heart though.”

“We made them believe it was me who they were after. A mysterious beauty that didn’t belong with the crew, surely it made sense for it to be the link, right?” Vil smiled wryly. “But it is clear these pirates knew the truth, this time they weren't after me but after the heart. This really has to be that witch’s doing, Idia is smart but he’s not as cunning as Azul.”

“Somehow it doesn’t surprise me that the octopus bastard and the daikon radish are working together, though I wish I knew why.”

“Excuse me, Vil-san.” Jack raised his hand as he spoke. “I understand you are here serving as bait, but you're not here just for that reason, right? You’re indeed different from us.”

Vil smiled and looked down; he wasn’t ashamed of what he was and he definitely didn’t regret his decisions, but he never thought he’d admit it like this to Leona’s crew. “I’m not the siren or princess or impossible treasure they all want to go after, but I’m indeed different from... most people here.” He looked at Leona and took a deep breath. “I’m a witch and a vampire.”

He solemnly waited for the crew’s reaction. He knew they’d be aghast and scared, maybe even disappointed; however instead, silence fell over them.

That was until Jack spoke sternly again. “So, you are responsible for the captain’s heart and our well-being?”

“I’m not the one who put the curse on him if that’s what you’re asking, but you’re somewhat right. Leona gave me his heart and I’ve made sure it has been safe all this time. With my care and magic nothing has ever happened to it, until today.”

This time murmurs overran the crew, until another man spoke. “So not only you protect us from sea monsters every night, but also you make sure nothing happen to us? Even though you’re in danger yourself. You’re our savior!”

The same man who’d seen Vil fight against sea creatures that night weeks ago spoke in defense of him, even though Vil himself was ignorant of that fact.

“He’s right, it’s thank to you that we’ve survived all this time.” Jack spoke again and little by little more pirates began to show their appraisal.

Vil was surprised and overwhelmed –but happy nonetheless– by their acceptance, he never thought it’d go like this, neither witches nor vampires had the best reputation after all. Contrary to him though, Leona wasn’t happy about the attention his lover was getting.

“That’s enough.” His voice made the others stop their celebrations. “All of you, get back to work, we already wasted a lot of time here.” He grabbed Vil’s arm and pulled him closer.

“What should we do now, Leona-san? Continue to the Island of Lamentation?” Ruggie asked when the crew was mostly silent again.

Leona pondered for a few seconds. “It was a trap. They made us sail to the Island so they could attack us.”

“Why didn’t they wait until we arrived? Surely they had more reinforcement on land.” Ruggie asked.

“If they were working with the octopus witch then it was better to attack at the sea, but the closer we got to the Island the more cautious we were going to be. They needed to surprise us.” Vil replied. “That means the clues we found on that other vessel were a lie. Is there nothing we could use over there?”

“Those bastards are planning something.”

“Rook may know something about this.” Vil said after pondering about it.

Leona furrowed his brow and pointed to the box. “Did you tell that guy about this?”

“Of course not.” Vil was mildly offended by the question. “You said it was a secret and I kept it to myself even when I was still with them.” He sighed. “What I mean it’s that he’s been alive for around the same time you have, he’s got an interest in creatures and researched them thoroughly. I can’t say he does, but it’s possible he knows that about your heart. I don’t know how much he knows about the Island of Lamentation since it’s a mystery for most, but I can tell he definitely knows a lot of things about Azul and his people, so maybe he knows why they’re working together to get your heart.”

“How come he knows about the Sea Witch?” Ruggie asked. “I thought your kind doesn’t deal with water.”

“We don’t, but as you know, Rook is a bit... different. He was well acquainted with one of Azul’s lackeys.” Vil explained nonchalantly, but quickly made a correction. “Ah, that was a long time ago, way before he met you, of course. Actually, even before I met him, though it continued for a while after I did. In any case, there’s no way he doesn’t know anything. At least he should understand their motivations.”

“Who’s that Rook guy? Is he a witch too? Is he a threat?” Jack asked.

Vil shook his head. “He’s neither a witch nor a threat, he’s the one who turned me into a vampire. I lived with him for centuries before I came here, so he’s definitely not a threat. He’s also Ruggie’s–”

“Ahh, yes, yes. We established he’s not a threat.” Ruggie stopped Vil from talking. “In any case, returning to my initial question. What are we going to do, Leona-san?”

Leona sighed. “I guess we have no choice then, we’ll have to ask the guy personally.”

Vil’s eyes lit up. “You mean that we can...?”

“Yeah. We can’t go to the Island of Lamentation now, and it’s likely they don’t have anything we can use. So I’ll be fulfilling my promise here, we’re going to the Country of Pyroxene.”

Vil hugged Leona euphorically and placed short and sweet kisses on his lips and cheeks while muttering ‘ _thank you_ ’ time and again. Leona seemed unimpressed but let him continue under the eyes of everybody else. Collectively, the crew seemed more shocked by Vil’s affection towards their captain that by the reveal of his origins.

Ignoring the current situation, Vil bit Leona’s neck, which predictably made both of them instantly aroused. “Your taste is definitely my favourite.” He whispered while he licked the droplets or blood that slid on his neck.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Ruggie stopped them. “Give us instructions before you leave or else we’ll get stranded here for days. We change route to the Country of Pyroxene, right?”

Leona moved away from Vil for a few seconds to reply angrily. “Towards the north, we have to arrive before the tenday. Get rid of the undead and robots, and take all the humans to the brig.”

“Just the ones that are alive, I hate dead human’s blood.” Vil stopped kissing Leona’s neck to speak.

“You should’ve let more of them alive if you wanted fresh food.”

Vil glared at him, and then spoke to Ruggie. “Leave one undead in the brig too.”

“No. I told you you can’t have other undead, I don’t give a shit if they aren’t the same as us.”

“Not for me. It’d be great if we could learn more about them, they’re so rare. Rook could do some research. Besides, I’m pretty sure they don’t leave us longing for them like your kind does, so in that case, it’d be a great gift for Epel. His own undead he could feast on any time he wants to.” Vil smiled and licked a trail of blood from Leona’s neck.

“Alright. Leave one undead, chained and covered in the cellar.”

“No robots?” Ruggie asked.

“No, we can’t risk being tracked. Everyone else go repair the ship. Vil will be in danger if it sinks.”

Without adding anything else, Leona carried Vil and took him away to their chamber to not be seen again for the rest of the day while everybody else cleaned the remains of the past battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading <3


	5. Chapter 5

“Wake up, sleeping beauty. We’re here.”

Vampires could only enter a deep sleep when they were in their coffins, when they were away from them they could only be in a resting phase, still completely aware of their surroundings. Deep sleep wasn’t even necessary for them, it was only for when they had to go long periods without eating for whatever reason, that way they could conserve their energy until they could feast again.Vil didn’t bring his coffin with him when he embarked on the Savanaclaw because Leona promised he’d always have food for him, if it wasn’t prisoners then his own blood was enough.

That’s why when Leona came to ‘wake him up’ he was mostly aware of the situation.

“I thought we were going to arrive until the afternoon.” He quickly stood up from the bed and began dressing himself. “You should’ve let me know in advance! I’m not ready yet.”

“Calm down, you can stay here until then, we’ll go secure the town first.”

The plan was to arrive in the afternoon, stay in town for a couple of hours, and then go to the castle during nighttime. The castle was located in the outskirts, so realistically not many people should notice them going in even in the afternoon, but Vil thought he still needed to be careful. He knew townspeople weren’t accepting of vampires and other beings, so even back when he lived there, he had always hidden his true self. He didn’t want them to start being suspicious now, even if he had been away for over a century.

Only him and a couple of the pirates were going to stay in the castle while the others were staying at the ship or in inns and taverns; plundering was prohibited until the last day. It was all planned, yet they had arrived earlier than expected, it wasn’t even noon yet.

“No way, I want to go now. I’m dying to step on solid ground, I won’t be able to wait here.” Vil couldn’t contain his excitement at finally being able to return home.

“Even if you go right now, you won’t be able to see them until later, don’t forget that.” Leona yawned. “You have ten minutes to get ready or I’m leaving you here. I’ll wait outside.”

“Fifteen.” Vil corrected while he looked for some other clothes. “It’s your fault I have to hurry up, so at least give me fifteen minutes. I need to look the best out there.”

Leona grunted and left the chamber, heading to the upper deck to finish his tasks before they were ready to disembark. It wasn’t just Vil who couldn’t wait to get off the ship; he loved the sea, but after sailing for centuries, those ten days off were sacred for him.

Exactly 15 minutes later, Vil left the room and walked towards the place where the pirates had gathered. He was dressed in a gorgeous dress made by himself with the fabrics that were brought to him weeks ago. The dress resembled some the attires he wore during his time at the castle, around the 18th and 19th century. Wearing these kind of clothes in the current era would make him look out of place anywhere, but in his hometown that seemed to be stuck in the past, he’d look like he still belonged there. His outfit covered him from head to toe so the naughty sun wouldn’t bother him, but he still had an umbrella to help him stay away from it.

His heels clacked on the hardwood floor, announcing his presence to the crowd. The stare from the pirates was not missed by him or by Leona.

“I’m ready, let’s not waste more time.” He said and handed Leona a suitcase with his belongings.

“Wait your majesty. The messenger is not back yet.”

While they waited for Vil, Leona sent a scout to check if it was safe to disembark. The town was usually peacefully, but he wanted to avoid confrontations or hostilities. Minutes later a man came back, giving the signal that it was okay to come down.

* * *

The town hadn’t changed much from the last time Vil saw it, around a hundred years ago; if anything it looked more deserted. No technology, no innovation, nobody would believe it was so close to the Island of Lamentation which was quite literally the opposite in terms of modernization.

Of course, nobody was surprised considering this part of the country was a witch town.

One of the things that characterized witches was the immense desire for knowledge alongside their incredible magic abilities. Regular witches liked to travel the world, learning new things, cursing people and using their abilities to make a name for themselves. However, while the majority of them were like that, they were some that preferred a peaceful life away from the outside world. Unfortunately witches were not widely accepted in the normal world, so their solution was to make ‘witch towns’; places where many witches gathered and lived together, only using their abilities to support themselves. They were not only for witches that didn’t want adventure, it also served as a spot for traveling witches to come back to, to rest and prepare for their upcoming journeys.

Vil had been born and raised there by his witch parents centuries ago. After they passed, he lived in his castle with Rook, and most recently with Epel too for many years.

Witches were more than welcome there, but anything else was not completely acceptable. The people wanted a peaceful life, so beings like vampires, undead, fae, werewolves, and so on were usually turned away, even if they were witches too. Once he turned into a vampire, Vil knew he was not allowed there anymore, yet he managed to hide his situation for a long time. Witches were curious by nature, but in this town they were mostly reserved so if you didn't stand out much, then it wasn't hard to pass as a regular witch.

“The others will hit the taverns. What are you gonna do?” Leona asked Vil once they were in town.

“I want to take a walk. It's been ages since I strolled around here, I also want to see the stores and maybe buy a few things. Will you come with me?” Vil grabbed his hand. Townspeople stared at the unusual crowd, but neither Vil nor Leona paid attention to them.

“I want a drink, take Jack with you and go look for me when it’s time. I’ll be around.”

Vil crossed his arms. He wanted to spend time with Leona, but it was already a miracle that they were there, so he knew he had no choice but to agree to his conditions for now. After Leona handed him a pouch with coins, he called Jack and asked him to accompany him. The boy was, of course, delighted.

* * *

The two walked for a while through the streets looking at stores and houses. It really hadn’t changed much, so Vil was basking in the nostalgia from his days living there.

“So, what do you think about the town, Jack? Charming, isn’t it?” Vil asked his companion.

Jack looked stern but pensive. “It is a nice town. The old architecture make it look cozy. And for some reason it somehow feels familiar.”

Vil smiled. “You’ve been here before, though I’m not sure you remember.” Jack stared at him with confusion. “One hundred and twenty years ago. That was when Leona came to steal me away and I finally took the decision to go with him. Ten years before, and ten years before that other time he also came here for a couple of days. That’s when we met, 140 years ago.” Vil looked up, reminiscing about that time. "He brought the whole crew here, but only he and Ruggie came to the castle."

Jack nodded. “I met the captain 130 years ago, they disembarked in my town so I went with them. I do remember that we sailed before it was expected because he had pending matters somewhere else, so I guess we came here. I was still the rookie so I stayed helping the crew and didn't leave the ship. Maybe that's why I don't remember much. I know we picked you up ten years later, but that's the only thing I can recall from that time. I never thought I'd have bad memory, but I feel I've been forgetting a lot about my first years with the captain."

“It’s funny, we’ve known each other almost the same time we’ve both known Leona.” Vil said with a smile on his face. “By the way, I never thanked you for saving me during the attack, I really thought I was going to die.”

Jack shook his head. “You don’t have to thank me, I was only doing my job. You saved us in the end.”

“Ah, I really didn’t want to expose myself like that but I couldn’t help it, it was necessary. Still, it was thanks to you that I could do what I did. Leona is grateful too, though he won’t admit it to you. So, let us repay you for that.” Vil moved the umbrella slightly to see the man’s face.

“That’s not necessary, I told you I didn’t do anything worth thanking.” Jack looked away. He always had a hard time receiving compliments.

“I’ll buy something for you, Leona gave me enough money for it. What do you want? Clothes? Accessories? Something to eat? Just name it.” Vil insisted.

“Vil-san, I told you–”

A loud noise followed by several voices made them both stop in their tracks. They saw two women and a kid removing some wood tiles from a partially destroyed house; they all seemed angry, so Vil urged Jack to continue their way as to not meddle with their affairs. When they walked next to them, they could hear them complaining about ‘those damned dogs.’

In the end, Vil convinced Jack to let him get something for him, so they visited a few stores to look for anything he wanted. They got dirty looks every time they went inside a store, but Vil ignored them, he knew how intolerant these people could be. However when they were going to enter certain clothing store a clerk stopped them.

“Hey you dog, you can’t come in.” The woman spat at Jack, blocking the entrance.

“Excuse me? He’s not a dog, what a rude woman you are.” Before Jack said anything, Vil spoke for him.

“You can’t fool me, you’re one of those goddamned werewolves, right? I can see those ears and tail, you’re not welcome here.”

Some people from near establishments came out to see what was going on.

“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s not a werewolf, he’s a simple, wolf beast. It’s not hard to understand.” Vil explained. While he knew it wasn’t his fault, he felt ashamed that someone from his hometown was treating the boy badly.

“Same thing! You bunch of beasts, I saw you arriving. You only come here to destroy our town, this is a witch town, not a beast town, hear that?”

“We are witches too. We’re here because this is my hometown and I have things to do, not to destroy your home or whatever you’re accusing us of.” Vil spoke coldly. It was a lie that the crew were witches, but they didn’t need to know the truth.

The woman sneered. “And who are you? Their whore?” The woman pushed Vil, making him lose his balance and sending him to the floor.

“Don’t you dare talk to Vil-san like that!” Jack was about to charge at the clerk, but Vil stopped him.

“Stop, Jack. It’s not worth it. Let’s go, and please pass me my umbrella.” When Vil fell down, his umbrella fell too. While the sun wasn’t as strong as other times, it still started to hurt his skin.

As soon as he heard his voice, Jack turned around and handed Vil the umbrella back while he helped him stand up. The woman muttered more insults before leaving, and soon the gathered crowd started to leave too.

“Are you okay? I’m sorry, this was my fault.” Jack was quick to apologize once they were alone in the street.

Vil shook his head. “It wasn’t your fault at all, people here aren’t nice to outsiders. I apologize in her stead, she said really mean things to you. To think she’d mistaken you for a dog or worse, a werewolf.”

Jack shook his head too. “It’s fine, I’m not a werewolf but I was raised by them, so I don’t mind being called one.”

Vil froze. “What? You were? How...?”

“They’re not my parents, I never knew them. But werewolves took me in and raised me, so I don’t mind being associated with them.”

“That’s shocking to hear, this is the first time I hear anything about your upbringing.” Vil spoke softly. “Sorry if I misspoke about them, I’ve had bad experiences with them in the past. I met a couple that were nice, but most of them have not.”

“Don’t worry, I understand. It was rude to call them dogs, but I can’t blame her nor you. I know their history and I know not every werewolf is as nice as the couple who raised me.”

“Indeed, young man.” An old lady spoke from behind them. “You’ll have to forgive us, lately a lot of our homes and business have been raided by wolves, but some people, like that woman, believe it’s werewolves instead. She was pretty rude to you two, but please understand she’s just tired like all of us.”

Both men turned to look at the approaching woman. She looked incredibly old.

“Really? That’s unfortunate. Have you used spells and wards?” Vil inquired in a concerned and sweet tone.

“Of course we have, we tried everything we can, but we’re all old. All the youngsters have left, our magic is not what it used to be.”

“I’m sure there are still things you can do, it’d be quite horrible if they end up killing townspeople.”

“Ah, my dear, they already did. They killed some kids awhile ago, it was such a gruesome scene so that’s why some believe they are werewolves and not simple wolves. Many people left already, a wolf would be easy to deal with, a werewolf not so much.”

Vil’s heart sank. Memories of things he didn’t want to remember coming back to him.

“Come to my store, your dress got all dirty. I’ll help you clean yourself.”

Vil and Jack hesitated, but in the end decided to follow the old woman into to a small jewelry store. Vil couldn’t hide his astonishment when he looked at all the jewels and stones. Even though Leona gifted him jewels often, his hometown’s stones were still his favourite.

“We can’t let you go back to your husband looking like this, can we?” The old woman said holding a cold cloth to Vil’s dress, helping him get the dirt out of it. Vil laughed when he realized she referred to Leona as his husband. “You’re the captain’s wife, right?

Vil hummed. “I guess you can say I am, is it so obvious?”

“You don’t see many pretty ladies traveling with pirates, so you must be important.” The woman continued her task vigorously. “So, what you said about you being witches is true? I had never heard of pirates witches before.”

Vil laughed nervously. “Not all of us, but many of us are. And this is indeed my hometown, I came to visit some family.”

The woman took a look at him. “I’ve been living here since I was born, yet I don’t remember your face... ah could it be? That young boy that lived in the castle. Are you related to him?”

Vil held his breath. “Castle? Ah...”

“Yes, the... what was it called? Pomefiore Castle? It’s a bit away from here.” The woman closed his eyes. “You look as beautiful as him. It’s been like 30 years since he left, but I haven’t forgotten his cute face. I’m sure he turned into a fine man. Are you perhaps his daughter?”

“Left? What do you mean?” Vil ignored her question. He was sure the woman was speaking about Epel, their castle was the only one around, and they were the only ones who lived there. “You are talking about a small teen, lavender hair, blue eyes and incredibly pretty, right?”

“Indeed, those blue eyes were unforgettable. He was such a sweet boy. I never got to talk to him, but he was famous around town. You do know him, then.”

Vil scowled. “I do. What do you mean he left? And what about the man who lived with him? I’m here to meet them.”

“My dear, you’re late, they’re long gone. I heard the man left years before the boy. The kid stayed alone for a while, I’m not sure who took care of him, but soon he stopped coming into town and some time later he disappeared too. The castle has been abandoned since then.”

“That’s... that can be, they wouldn’t leave without telling me. Are you sure?”

“Completely sure. They were powerful and it was their magic that helped us ward against invaders. When they left, wolves attacks increased, so I think it’s safe to say they’re not here anymore.”

Vil was confused and overwhelmed; he had to confirm for himself that both Rook and Epel were gone; he couldn’t believe they’d leave without telling him. Sure, it had been over a hundreds years but it didn’t make sense to not tell him anything. He started to get worried when he remembered the calling he had been hearing for the last decades, maybe it was them letting him know they had to leave. But why? Were they in danger? Werewolves shouldn’t have been an issue for Rook. Epel was a new vampire when he left him, but he had Rook with him, he should be safe. He didn’t think they were dead, but he still worried.

When Jack finally was able to stop him they were already in the middle of the street, a few stores away.

“Vil-san, are you okay?” Jack grabbed his arm. “You started walking without saying anything.”

Vil shook his head. “No, I’m not. I simply don’t believe they left, that’s impossible. I need to see it for myself, so take me to the castle now.”

“Calm down, Vil-san, let’s go with the captain first.” Jack pulled Vil along. “It’s not safe to go alone even with me by your side.”

Vil was reluctant, but ultimately let himself be lead towards a tavern. It didn’t take long to find them since there weren’t many establishments that accepted beasts.

As soon as Leona saw them enter the tavern he knew something was up.

“What happened?” He asked when they approached. “Are you okay?”

Vil sat down on Leona’s lap like usual, but he couldn’t articulate a reply, he was still processing the situation, his mind making up scenarios about what could have happened. Leona turned to Jack for an explanation.

“We heard from some woman that the castle is empty, apparently the people Vil-san is looking for left years ago.”

“They wouldn’t do that, they wouldn’t leave me. I don’t understand.” Vil was furrowed his brow. “I need to go.”

“Relax, how do you know it’s true? What if it’s a trap?” Leona held Vil’s hand, trying to calm him down.

“A trap? We’re not at the sea, they’re not after me, they don’t even know me. No, it’s not a trap. Something happened.” Vil squeezed Leona’s hand. 

Leona grunted. “It’s dangerous to go right now, you said it yourself.”

“That’s why I am asking to come with me.” Vil looked into Leona’s eyes pleadingly. “Please.”

Leona sighed. He really wanted his tenday to be peaceful and unperturbed, yet wasn't going to reject Vil when he knew it was important for him. He called out to Ruggie and asked him to gather a few other pirates to go with them. He gave a few instructions to the remaining pirates too. Soon the group conformed by Vil, Leona, Jack, Ruggie and four other pirates congregated outside the bar ready to leave for the castle to find out the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but I'll be posting the next one soon. It's done, but I want to proofread more. Hopefully it'll be ready tomorrow.  
> Thank you for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

“Rook-san is not here, but I can feel Epel-kun inside, just barely. Nobody else.”

The group arrived to the castle while the sun was still out. Vil wanted to make sure it was safe before coming in, so he asked Ruggie to sense presences inside the castle. When he heard Epel was still there, he felt relief wash over him.

“Do you think he sleeping? I can’t understand why would Rook-san leave him here alone. You don’t think something happened to him, right?” Ruggie asked, however Vil was too concentrated into trying to feel Epel’s presence to reply.

“Let’s go, it’s better if you ask the kid yourself instead of wondering what happened.” Leona tried to open the door, but Vil quickly stopped him.

“You can’t come in.” Vil curtly replied, and when he saw Leona’s questioning expression, he continued. “Before I left I put up a spell so nobody but Rook and Epel could enter, anyone else would drop dead if they tried to. I guess you would just suffer, but I don’t want to put you through that.” Vil touched the details on the old wooden door. “I’ll undo the spell so you can enter.”

Vil closed his eyes, placed his right hand on the door and recited an incantation. Magic began to emanate from his hands and into the wood, slowly encasing the whole castle in a faint, white light. The light started to fade as soon as he finished the incantation. Vil, however, didn’t look happy.

“Is something wrong?” Leona asked.

“I rescinded the spell but there’s still an enormous quantity of magic here.” He touched the door again. “There seem to be other spells, but I didn’t cast them.”

“So?”

“I’m not sure it’s safe for you to come inside yet. I could undo the spells if I knew what they do.”

“I’ll go in, if you can see what they do to me, you can do something about it, right?”

Vil stopped Leona before he took a step inside. “I’ll do it, it’s easier if I try myself.”

Vil opened the heavy, old door without any issues, however once he crossed the threshold he stopped and fell to the ground, yelping in pain as every pore in his body opened and blood started to seep from them. The pirates were shocked and confused, but Leona didn’t waste time and pulled Vil out of the house. Once he was outside, Vil stopped bleeding.

“What the hell was that?” Leona asked as he held him.

Vil didn’t respond, but once he was able to stand up for himself, he walked back to the front of the house. “This is my house! Let me in!” He passed his hand through the door only for it to start bleeding again. Leona pulled him away again.

"Stop that!" Leona yelled at him. 

“What’s going on?” Jack asked, staring in shock at the vampire. The sight of him being covered in blood was frightening.

Ruggie brought a hand to his mouth, thinking about the possibilities. “Don’t tell me...”

Vil sighed angrily. “Indeed. It’s not just the other spell blocking my entrance, it’s the castle too. It doesn’t recognize me as its owner anymore.”

Ruggie gulped. "How could've that happened?" Before Vil could reply, the other pirates looked at him confused so he explained. “Vampires can’t enter anywhere unless they’re invited by the owner of the place. He bleed because the castle doesn't think he has permission, even though it should be his castle."

Vil sighed. He wasn’t bleeding anymore, but the wounds weren’t healing, so the lightest touch made him wince. He was afflicted and angry, he couldn’t understand who could’ve taken his castle for themselves. 

“What now? Did you at least find out what was the other spell?” Leona asked.

Vil nodded. “I did, it's actually quite simple, but strangely enough this spell was casted from inside the castle. Mine was placed from the outside, so there was no issue, but if I want to undo this one, I'd have to get in.”

“I won’t let you, look what happened to you.”

Vil looked away. “I know, let me think about what to do.”

“Vil-san, if the person placed it from inside, does that mean they’re still there?” Jack asked.

“Unless they learnt how to hide their full presence I doubt it. Only Epel-kun is there.” Ruggie said. “There aren’t any other people nearby.”

“Vil, why don’t you let _him_ try?” Leona asked, grabbing Vil by his arm.

Vil glared at him. “No, he doesn’t know how and this is not the moment.”

“We don’t have other options, give it a try. He’ll learn.”

“No. I told you this is not the moment to do it.” Vil didn’t look away. “I’ll rather go there inside myself than having to deal with that conversation right now.”

"Then we're leaving if there's nothing else we can do."

The pirates looked at the couple not understanding what they were saying, but knowing well to stay quiet.

The sun started to set and the air was getting colder.

Vil sighed. “I’ll cast a protective spell on you so you won’t be harmed, then you’ll go wake Epel up and bring him here so we can ask him what happened. He should be in the top floor, last room to the back. I’ll guide you from outside.”

“Vil-san, this is dangerous. Let me do it instead of the captain.” Jack spoke to the couple. “It’s not good if anything bad happens to you two.”

Leona and Vil stared at each other; the look in their eyes made them seem as if they were communicating telepathically, but the truth was that they simply understood what the other was thinking from having being together for so long.

“I'd take your word any other time, but not now Jack. Leona knows the castle already and we have to be quick, I really don’t know for how long I’ll be able to hold the spell in this state.” Vil explained. “Besides, I’ve used this spell on him other times.”

Jack hesitated, but nodded nonetheless, accepting their decision.

“You.” Vil pointed towards the remaining pirates. “Guard us. You said there wasn’t anybody nearby but we can’t be sure, especially sincere heard there had been werewolves attacks.”

They nodded.

Vil called for Leona and made him stand in front of him. He placed his bloody, right hand over his forehead and closing his eyes, recited an incantation. As soon as he was done, Leona hurried up and went inside the castle without any issue, all thanks to the spell. However once he was out of sight, Vil collapsed onto the floor, quietly crying out in pain.

“Vil-san!” Jack held his arm. “How can we help?”

Vil exhaled loudly before speaking in a very weak voice. “I told you to keep watch, I’ll be fine.” The open wounds, the power of the foreign spell and the magic he had just casted were taking a toll on his body. He took a few more breathes before standing up, and giving a last stare to the entrance of his castle he jumped out towards one of the window, from there he jumped towards another and then another until he arrived to the top of the castle. With each jump he did, he left a trail of blood behind.

The inside castle looked no different from the town they were in, still clinging to the past. All the furniture and decoration was still in place, but everything was covered in dust and cobwebs –it was obvious nobody had been there in a while. On the outside, around each window he passed, Vil noticed there were many scratches, as if something had tried to get inside, and for some reason, they increased the more he approached the room where Epel was. He arrived to the window at the top of the castle at the same time Leona entered the room.

The place was empty save for the three coffins in the middle of the dark room. From the window, Vil called out to Leona.

“His coffin is the third one, open it. He should wake up soon.” Vil said, crunching down in the windowsill.

Leona lifted the heavy lid, revealing a young, pretty boy sleeping inside.

“Epel! Wake up! It’s me.” Vil yelled several times, but no matter what he said, the boy didn’t respond.

Leona grabbed Epel’s arm, yanking him softly. “He’s colder than you, I don’t think he’s okay.”

“He needs to drink my blood, hang on, I will go over there.” Vil took a step inside, feeling the pain from before at full once again.

“You idiot! That’s too dangerous!” Leona let go of the boy and walked towards the window, grabbing Vil and placing him on the windowsill again. “You can’t come in and you’re still too injured to be giving away any blood.” Leona stared at him. “Why aren’t your wounds closing?”

Vil looked away. He was in immense pain, yet he was still trying to hide it from the other man. “It’s the spell, but it’s okay, I’m fine.”

“You can’t stay here, we need to get you blood.”

“Epel first, I can’t leave him like this.”

“The kid is fine, we know he’s here and we can’t do anything until you’re okay. Let’s go, we’ll pick him up later.”

“No. I need to know what happened and I can’t risk something happening to him. If someone else is trying to get my castle, they may realize I’m here and try something on him.” Vil went quiet for a few moments. “Bring him outside, I know what to do.”

Leona knew better than to keep arguing with the man –it was obvious Vil wasn’t going to change his mind– so he returned to the coffin, took off his coat and draped it over Epel, then he picked him up in his arms carefully. “Can you come down safely?” He asked once he was ready to leave.

He nodded and smiled. “Don't underestimate me, I can do this.”

Leona gave a final nod and left the room. At the same time Vil jumped down, following the same path he did before, trusting that Leona was going to safely bring Epel down.

He landed on the ground feeling weaker than before. He waited for a few moments before walking up to Ruggie, who explained that he sensed someone was near, but he couldn’t place if it was a human or not. They were waiting to see if they revealed themselves, but apparently they weren’t moving towards their direction.

Minutes later, Leona arrived carrying Epel. The teen was small and since he was completely wrapped in his coat to the others it looked as if he was only carrying a heavy sack. When Leona noticed the state Vil was in, he quickly dumped Epel into Jack and went to his lover’s side.

“You need to eat. Can you wait until we bring you fresh blood or will I be enough?” He wanted to hold Vil, but he knew he was just going to hurt him more.

Vil looked up to the sky. The sun had already disappeared completely over the horizon, and the moon was bright up in the sky.

“It won’t be enough, I’m poisoned.” Since the first moment he step inside the castle he knew that the other spell, which was the responsible of him being unable to heal, was a poisonous one.

He a loved poison spells, they worked perfectly and were aesthetically appealing; the one he casted on the castle was the same. He had taught Epel the basics on how to use them, and while Rook wasn't a witch himself, he also knew the principles and how they worked. At first, he thought Epel had placed it under the tutelage of Rook. It seemed like a simplistic version of the one he used and it'd made sense if Rook wanted to keep Epel safe inside; but once he found out it made him unable to heal, he realized he had been mistaken. Rook never did anything to hurt Vil, it was unconceivable to even imagine he'd ask Epel to cast a spell that could harm him. He had to admit he and Epel weren't in the best terms, but he didn't think the teen would be capable to do something like this without a reason.

Whoever casted the spell, which he guessed was the same person who stripped him of the ownership of his castle, was mocking him.

“Let’s go to the back yard, there’s a path that leads to some benches, we'll rest there.”

“Is it safe to stay here?” Leona asked.

“We can’t go back to town and the forest is dangerous, even for us. There’s also no way we can return to the ship unnoticed, so we have no choice. I’d need for you to continue keeping watch.”

Leona nodded. “Ruggie, go back to the Savanaclaw and bring one of the prisoners. Be careful, we can’t alert anyone.”

“No, I need Ruggie to for another task. Send someone else, and I need you to bring more, two... no three of them should be enough.”

Leona instructed two of the pirates to return to the ship, and to the rest of them to secure the place Vil mentioned before.

“Jack. Please be careful with him.” Vil said to Jack when he and the others were about depart. “Do not let anything happen to him.”

Jack had already noticed that whatever Leona had dumped on him was a person. They seemed too small, light and rigid, but there was no mistake he was carrying someone. When Vil asked him to be careful, he felt an incredible need to protect said person with his life.

“Ruggie, I need you to go back into town and look for someone. He... may not want to come, but you need to bring him no matter what.” Even though he was badly hurt, Vil spoke with a stern voice.

Ruggie nodded and waited for the rest of the instructions.

* * *

“Trey-kun, hurry up! I want to go home already.”

“If you’re too bored you can go ahead, but it’d be easier if you helped me, Cater.”

Inside the small, closed bakery in one corner of the town, there were two young men: one cleaned the windows while the other lay in a booth.

“I don’t like to go alone, you know that. Especially lately, it’s too scary with all the attacks.”

“I don’t think you need to be worried about that, and like I said, come help–” Trey’s speech was cut short when he heard the door of the establishment open. He turned around to see the young hyena beastman coming in. “I’m sorry but we’re closed for the day, please come back tomorrow.”

“Aww, really. My boss will be mad if I don’t bring what he asked.” Ruggie shrugged, feigning annoyance.

Trey looked at his garbs. “Boss? You’re with the pirates that docked earlier, right? What would a pirate want from a bakery at such hours?”

“We have a few rolls left, if you want we can give you those.” Cater offered.

“No, we don’t. Cater, come here.” Trey interrupted him and motioned for him to come stand behind him. He knew something was up from the moment he came inside. “Like I said, we’re closed.”

The pirate laughed. “You’re sharp, I’ll give you that. I want him.” He pointed his chin towards Cater who had just arrived to Trey’s side.

“Me? Why? I don’t have anything you’d want.” Cater said while he hid behind the taller man.

Ruggie grabbed a gun from his belt and pointed towards them. “I said you have to come with me.”

Both men raised their arms, but only Trey spoke. “I don’t know what you want from Cater, but I advice you to leave this place immediately, that weapon will only hurt you.”

Ruggie sighed. “He said you’d say something like that. Look here,” he removed a bullet from the gun and showed it to them, “can you see what’s this?”

Both men eyed the bullet in Ruggie’s hands, but before they could speak, Ruggie continued.

“Tungsten bullets.”

They tensed. “Where did you get that?” Trey asked while he held Cater in place behind him.

“We’re pirates, we can get a hold of anything we want. These come from the east, those places are brimming with it, it’s not hard to make them into bullets.” He put the bullet back into his gun. “I know what you are, and I know how to hurt you. So, let me repeat myself: You, come with me.”

“Wait. First explain what do you want from him.”

“You’re in no position to ask questions, you know?” Ruggie snickered. “But he said you’d be like this too, you are making this harder.”

“Who? Who told you all of that and who is looking for him? Your pirate boss?” Trey had managed to keep a calm and serene demeanour until now, but he was starting to feel angry.

“Vil Schoenheit. He’s not my boss but I guess he’s something similar.” Ruggie replied.

“Vil-kun? He’s here?” Cater surprisedly asked from behind Trey’s shoulder. “So that means... I see, you are those pirates who took him away.”

“Why does Vil want to see Cater? He left a century ago, we don’t have anything to do with him anymore.”

Vil told him to not tell them about his current state; they hadn’t been in the best terms the last few times they saw each other, so he didn’t want them to use that to their advantage. However Ruggie feared he may have to use worse methods if they didn’t agree soon, Vil was in danger and he couldn’t make him wait any more.

He sighed, still aiming his gun towards them. “Look, you’re just wasting my time here. I'll give you three options: one, you come with me to see him and no one gets hurt; two, I’ll incapacitate you and then drag you to him; or three, I put a hole in your heads and leave you to the wolves, you won’t see him again then. It’s your choice.”


	7. Flashback ①

_The Country of Pyroxene_

_1714_

“Vil-kun, Vil-kun, are you here~?” Cater asked while he walked over the stone road that lead to the clearing behind the castle.

“Yes, I’m here, Cater. I’m busy, what do you want?” Vil called out to him from the bench in which he sat reading a book.

“Ohh~ what are you reading? Is it fun?” The redhead sat next to him.

“The accounting books from my parents’ trade.” He sighed, closing the book. “It’s not fun at all.”

Cater lowered his eyes. Vil’s parents had died recently leaving him as the sole heir of their castle and business; however, Vil wasn’t ready to take the mantle yet and was having a hard time getting used to doing everything alone. The only thing Cater could offer were comforting words that Vil had already heard many times before.

“Whatever, I’m already sick of it for today. What do you want?” Vil supported his chin on his hand.

“Right! Did you see the two new guys that came to town? They’re super hot~”

He rolled his eyes. “I don’t have time to be checking guys up, I’m busy worrying about more important matters. And honestly, they aren’t that handsome.”

“So you noticed them! Come on, they totally are~ they look so mysterious and secretive, but once you talk to them they’re also super friendly. I was surprised.”

“You spoke with them?” Vil asked surprisedly. “When? And how?”

Cater laughed. “You totally are interested too! They were at the market earlier and I just happened to be passing by~ so I walked up to them and we chatted. I ended up being late and I had to buy a bunch of spices I didn’t need so they didn’t get suspicious which angered my mom, but! We got a date with them!”

“We?”

“Yup, I told them about you and they wanted to meet you too. So, tonight at the burning star tavern.”

“A tavern? Couldn’t you choose a worse place?”

“Don’t be like that, it was their choice. They didn’t want to be in the open because they’re not used to our cold weather. And it’s close to their inn!”

“Cater.” Vil gasped. “I’m not like that, I’m not going to sleep with them.”

“That’s not what I meant! They aren’t familiar with the town yet, they didn’t want to get lost.” Cater quickly waved his hands in front of him, trying to clarify what he wanted to say.

“Still, I don’t want to go. I already told you I’m quite busy.”

“You also said you were sick of it for today. Come on, it’ll be fun. I know things are hard for you, but a free day won’t kill you. Come on~”

Sighing, Vil stood up. “Fine, then I’ll go get ready. Even if I don’t want to go, I can’t look deplorable in front of new people.”

* * *

“Ohh, the monsieur wasn’t lying at all when he spoke about your beauty. You’re indeed the most beautiful person I’ve ever lied my eyes upon!”

Vil took a step back when the strange man kissed his hand and spoke to him in a very enthusiastic and exaggerated way. He looked at Cater for help, but he found him already happily chatting with the other man.

“T-Thank you. I’m Vil Schoenheit. Nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine. I’m Rook Hunt, and my companion is Trey Clover.” Rook smiled and pointed towards the other man.

“Nice to meet you too. Cater told us about you.” Trey stopped his conversation with Cater to speak to Vil. “The waiter brought the food just before you arrived, I hope you don’t mind that we chose for you. We can start eating now.”

When Cater and Vil arrived, the two men were already sitting on a table inside the tavern. The table was full of different dishes, even though they hadn’t touch any at all. Vil looked at the men. They both seemed to be slightly older than them, but it couldn’t be by much. They had a mysterious aura around them, yet they seemed harmless and friendly just like Cater said –and of course, they were indeed good looking. Still, Vil couldn’t help but mistrust them.

“We apologize for meeting you here, it’s definitely not a place such beauties like you should visit, but we’re still new in town.” Rook said with a pained expression. “Maybe later we can meet at a more beautiful place.”

“So, where do you come from? Have you traveled far?” Cater asked, looking straight at Trey. Vil thought he was being way too obvious.

“I’m from the Rose Kingdom and Rook from the Afterglow Savannah, both places are quite far from here.”

“Are you planning on staying?” Cater asked again as he happily ate the food in front of him.

“Oui, I’d stay my whole life here if it mean I could watch such beautiful faces every day.” Rook said while looking at Vil, who rolled his eyes mentally.

“We’re doing some research and this is the best place for it, so we probably will stay for a while.” Trey said. “We may have more opportunities to meet then.”

“What kind of research?” Vil asked while munching on his food. When he looked up, he realized the two men still hadn’t touched their food at all. Suddenly he felt even more uncomfortable and stopped eating.

“Witch towns are not too well known, so we wanted to see them from inside.” Trey explained.

Vil raised an eyebrow. “That’s your research about? We’re witches not monsters, it’s not like you’ll find many interesting things here. My parents used to say it was no different from a regular town, only with more magic.”

“I’m already sure it’s more interesting.”

“No, it’s not. The witches here are not the same as the ones you see in other places, here they... they don’t have passion for knowledge, they don’t care about perfecting their magic, they just want to live a peaceful and boring life. Old, boring witches. That’s the only thing you’ll find here.”

Both men smiled.

“Indeed, we’ve seen many witches all around the world and they’re nothing like the ones here. They’re more like you two.”

“Us?” Cater laughed. “We’re stuck here too, we don’t aspire to do much in our lives. Vil already inherited his parents’ trade and I... well I guess I will do the same once my sisters marry.”

“Really? That’s not what I see in your eyes.” Rook smiled, however it didn’t seem sincere. He also had a dangerous look in his eyes.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Vil frowned. It seemed he had been right to mistrust them.

“Let’s do something. I’ll tell you the real reason why we’re here and you’ll tell me what you think. If you don’t care, then we’ll leave you alone and we’ll continue our research alone; but if you are interested, we’ll give you the choice to help us.” Trey wore the same dangerous look.

Vil was slightly scared, yet he was curious. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought of leaving the town and doing something better with his life. He knew this definitely was going to be dangerous, but if this was his chance then he was going to take it.

“Alright, sounds interesting. We agree.” He smiled for the first time that evening.

Cater hesitated before nodding too.

“We’re here to research the witches that make deals with otherworldly creatures.”

“Other...worldly... creatures?”

“Vampires, skeletons, fae, werewolves, undead, you name it. I’m sure you’ve heard about them.”

Vil scowled. “Yes, but, you won’t find them here. I told you, the witches here don’t want anything to do with those things.”

“You’re mistaken. We already know about a group of werewolves witches that wander around here.” Rook smiled. “And I’m sure you already met them too.”

Vil narrowed his eyes, trying to understand what he had meant. He knew werewolves existed and were common in forests, but there? He’d never met anyone like that. They were supposed to be safe from those creatures in this magical town. Then seconds later, realization dawned on him and he gasped. “My parents...”

Vil’s parents had been killed by wolves in the forest, or that’s what everybody said. One day they suddenly left the castle at night when Vil was sleeping and next morning their bodies found mauled. Some neighbours notified that they saw them that night walking around the castle while contemplating the moon, so it was ruled as an accident –they must have wandered too far and wolves killed them for getting into their territory. Vil knew something was amiss; there was no way his parents went to take a stroll at midnight just because they wanted to see the moon. He knew they had been lured and killed by someone, but he didn’t have any proof of it.

“Oui, when Cater-kun told us about how your parents had recently died in an _accident_ we understood.”   
  


“How? They are not... the magic– our magic is supposed to repel them. How come– why they’re here?” Vil was visibly perturbed and stammered some of his words.

“That’s one of our targets. To understand how that came to be.”

“What so you mean? Like, what’s your research exactly about?” Cater asked when he saw the discomfort plastered on Vil’s face.

“We know the blood moon affects witches. That during that night you don’t follow the same trials regular people have to follow to become an otherworldly creature, that your magic lets you skip all of it; but we don’t know why, or how it came to happen. We also don’t know what is needed in each case, but we know it has to do with your magical abilities. We simply want to find out more about it.”   
  
  


“You’re saying those werewolves were regular witches here and then transformed during the blood moon?” Vil spoke quietly, still thinking about the sudden news.

“It’s a possibility. We think they were converted by a werewolf from far away that we’ve followed for years. He has transformed many witches around the world, but we don’t know much about the process. When we found out he was around, we thought it was a good idea to come here and research from inside a Witch Town, however...” Trey sighed. “It’s not like it’s forbidden knowledge, but most of that research is for witches only, regular people like us can’t have access to it. We are researchers, we simply want to know how the process occur.”

“So is that why you need us?” Cater asked, slightly disappointed that their interest was only because they were witches. “Because we are witches and can get the information you need.”

“Yes,” Trey hesitated before continuing, “it’s not like we wanted to use you, we thought this could be beneficial for all of us.”

  
  
“How so? What do you plan on doing once you get the information you need?” Vil asked.

Rook smirked. “Do you want vengeance on the creatures that killed your parents? If you ask me to, I could take care of them. I’m a hunter after all.”

“Rook, stop. We’re not here to kill anybody. You said such beautiful creatures deserved to be studied, killing them won’t help.”

Rook sighed dramatically. “But there’s beauty even in death, besides I can have different interests.”

“Anyway, if we’re right about you two, I’m sure once you hear our plans you’ll understand what I meant by saying it’ll be a mutual benefit.” Trey ignored Rook and looked at the two younger witches. “Are you interested?”

* * *

_1715_

They sat on Vil’s bed staring ahead. Cater in shock, Vil in thought.

“I really can’t believe it.” Cater said after a while. “We’ve been helping them for over a year, how come we never noticed anything?”

“Maybe you didn’t, but ever since we met them I knew there was something weird about them. They never eat anything, Rook only wanted to meet us at night and Trey wouldn’t meet us at night in open spaces, but during the day it was fine. It’s not that surprising if you think about it, but you spend all the time drooling over Trey so of course you didn’t notice anything.”

Cater pouted. “I did notice those things, but when I asked Trey-kun always had a reason ready on why he didn’t want to eat or why he didn’t like being outside at night. They always seemed believable.”

“You’d believe anything he says.”

“So, what are we going to do? Do you think it’s okay if we...”

“Definitely. We could live forever, we wouldn’t even age. That’s what Rook told me, _‘Your beauty should be preserved for ever and what a better way than this!’._ And we would be helping them with their research, I’m sure they would want to see it with their own eyes. And, we could leave this place some day too...” Vil looked up.

“The next blood moon is in four months, so we have until then to decide.”

“What do you mean ‘to decide’? It’s no brainer.”

“You have it easy, you can take these decisions without worrying about the future.” Cater said but then backtracked. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way, I know it’s not easy for you either, but like, what will I tell my parents? Of course I want to do it too, but...”

Vil shook his head. “You’re right. If they were alive I probably wouldn’t accept... no, that’s not true, this is a great chance, I doubt we can have another like this. I’d definitely accept but I’d had a hard time telling them. Look, if you don’t want to tell them what we’re going to do then just tell your parents you want to elope with Trey. Or just don’t say anything and move with him.”

“Are you crazy? I can’t do that. They’re going to kill me. And what will happen with their trade? I’m supposed to take care of it.”

“Your sisters can take care of it, or their husbands.” Vil smirked wryly. “Or you can do what I did and bankrupt it.”

“Don’t say that Vil-kun, you did your best. It was just too much for you.” Cater hugged Vil by his waist.

Vil sighed. “It’s a failure on my part, but it doesn’t matter now. I won’t need it when we become vampires.”

Cater tilted his head and let go of him. “Vampires? I thought we’d be skeletons, that’s what Trey-kun said. That’s what they wanted to research, they already got a ton on vampires.”

“Of course you’d do anything he says.” Vil rolled his eyes. “Are you even listening to yourself? Skeletons? They’re so ugly. We wouldn’t be able to go out at night at all.”

“But they don’t kill people, would you be okay with killing someone everyday just because you have to eat?”

“Rook said he doesn’t have to do it everyday, and animals work too.”

Cater grumbled. “You say I do anything Trey-kun tells me but you’re doing the same with Rook-kun. At least Trey-kun told us to think about it, he didn’t seem too keen on the idea of us losing our humanity so soon, but it’s so obvious Rook-kun is after you. He sold you the vampire idea for that reason.”

“Don’t get confused, I’m not like you. I’m doing this because I want to, not because he is pressuring me into it. And Rook has a boyfriend, he’s not into me like that.”

“What? You’re kidding, right? How come I never heard about that?”

“He’s told us many times about him, but of course you never pay attention to him. He’s merfolk or something like that, I still don’t understand much.” Vil lied down on the bed. “There are so many things out there that we don’t know about.”

“Ehhh... that’s so weird.” Cater lied down next to him. “Trey-kun is single, right?”

* * *

_1715, a month later._

“Are you crazy? What were you thinking?”

“What do you mean? We agreed we’d do this.”

“We agreed we’d think about it and wait until the blood moon. How could you do this now?”

“I didn’t feel like waiting until then. Rook explained me the difference of doing it during the blood moon and during a normal night, it wasn’t worth the wait.”

“But! We were doing this to help their research, doing it like you did it won’t be of help at all.”

“Stop fooling yourself, we weren’t trying to help them at all. You want to be with Trey and I want to leave this place, we have our own ambitions. I finally choose my path.”

“...”

“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. You can stay with him like a normal human, he said he was okay with it. He likes you, he won’t make you do anything you don’t want.”

“He is really mad at you two, you know.”

“I don’t care, wasn’t his idea to come to this town in the first place? He’s to blame too.”

“That’s harsh.”

“It’s true.”

“... Did it hurt? Feeling your blood being drained completely, I mean.”

“Not at first. The sedatives in his fangs made it easy, but once my organs started crashing I felt a lot of pressure inside. It stopped when he made me drink his blood, then I felt like I could breath again and all the pain vanished.”

“I think I’ll wait until the blood moon... or the next one. I don’t want to feel pain.”

“That’s fine, you aren’t sure yet so it’s good to think about it.”

“How does it feel?”

“Better than ever, my skin and hair feel amazing, I don’t feel tired at all and I’m way stronger and faster now. It’s hard getting used to the sun burning my skin, and I feel too thirsty all the time, but it’s not too bad.”

“And what will you do? Will you leave right away?”

“Not for now. Rook is moving here for the time being, he has to teach me many things. He says he’ll teach me to hunt animals first, and then, well... we’ll move onto different things, and maybe later we’ll go somewhere else.”

“Are you going to take revenge on those werewolves now that you can?”

“I’m not going to tell you unless you promise not to tell Trey, I don’t want him to stop Rook like last time.”

“That means you’ll do it. Fine, I’ll promise I won’t say anything, but you have to be careful. You’re a vampire now, but I still don’t want to see you getting hurt.”

At 18 years old, Vil choose to leave his previous life behind and become a vampire.

* * *

_1718_

“Everything is ready, it’s your call when you want to do it. If you still want to.”

“I postponed it for too long, but it wasn’t because I didn’t want to. Cate-kun was a bit scared.”

“I know, and I don’t blame you. If I could’ve had the option, I’d probably think long about it.”

“Do you regret it? I know you were forced into it and didn’t have a choice, but do you wish it was different?”

“I did, but when I realized I couldn’t change what had happened I knew had to make the most out of it. When I met Rook, he got me interested in researching, so everything became easier. Then I met you and I realized I wouldn’t change anything at all.”

“You’re so corny~”

“I wish we had met under normal circumstances though. As regular humans that don’t need to go through this.”

“I don’t think we’d ever met. Even if we were born in the same age, I’d never leave this town on my own, and you’d have your own life in your country.”

“Maybe I could’ve come here anyway.”

“You wouldn’t, you wouldn’t be interested in me, or in witches in general.”

“You captivated me being yourself, it is you who I love. The witch part was an addition.”

“Corny~”

“Stop that.”

“I love it when you get all flustered. Fine, I’ll do it now~”

“I’ll be here, don’t worry.”

“Will it hurt much?”

“It will hurt, but it will be quick. I made sure to make the poison that way so you won’t suffer. Most poisons can take several minutes or even hours, but this one will be in seconds. You’ll wake up in a few minutes too.”

“At least I’m not digging myself out of a grave. I have no idea how anybody could do something like that. How you even find the strength? Ugh, sounds horrible.”

“That may be the reason why we skeletons are rare. But see, when you want to live you find the strength. You’d do anything to not perish.”

“I’m glad you found it. And I’m glad Cate-kun is a witch so I don’t have to do that! Bless this blood moon.”

“I agree. I met you thanks to it, but I wouldn’t want to see you in pain.”

“Hehe... come on, give me the poison now. I’ll meet you later again, my dear.”

At 21 years old, Cater decided to follow Trey and become a skeleton like him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long and for the quite short, flashback chapter but I will post the next one in a couple of days.  
> Thanks for reading <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!


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